The Burning Love
by An Arrow in the Heart
Summary: Lily Fang is a shifter and doesn't understand why. As she works for the Secret Service to protect the president and the nation, she falls head over heels in love with Agent Pete Lattimer and their love continues as they get transferred to Warehouse 13 where they track down freaky objects that do freaky things.
1. Chapter 1

My paws pounded against the treadmill, my legs aching for a break. I wasn't done. I was far from done. Adrenaline pumped through my muscles and I started to pant heavily. The door to the warehouse opened and my boyfriend, Pete, appeared, sweat pouring from his face.

"You're dripping on my floor." Artie snapped. Pete's watch began to beep.

"Well, oh." Pete said. "Come on, Lilypad. Excuse us, we have a date with a forward pass." Pete walked over to the treadmill and stopped it and I hopped up. "Where's Myka?"

"She's outside on her phone."

"Oh, jeez." Pete opened the warehouse door and I raced down the white tunnel to the outside world with Pete at my heels. I balanced myself on my hind paws and pushed the door open. Sunlight blinded me but I could still make Myka out, standing by the pillar on her phone. A whistling noise from the sky and I looked up and saw a football coming down, aiming straight at Myka. "Heads up!" Myka turned and looked at us.

"What?" She questioned us. I raced forward and pushed off the ground with my hind legs, launching myself into the air and snatching the football out of the air in my mouth. I fell back down to the ground, crashing into Myka while I was at it. I scrambled to my paws and I dropped the football at Pete's feet and he bent down to pick it up.

"Hey, you all right?"

"What is it with men and their balls?" I phased and laughed.

"Yeah."

"Where's my phone?"

"What?"

"Where is my phone?"

"It's at your feet." Artie said behind us.

"Oh. Oh!" She bent down to pick it up.

"Hey!" We all turned to look at Artie. A third bank was robbed on Friday in Chicago."

"So what's going on?" I asked.

"Something strange. I don't know how the robbers are doing it, so you three are going to Chicago to find out."

"Chi-town." Pete murmured.

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I leaned against a table in the bank as Myka paced around impatiently, waiting for the bank to give us the security tapes.

"Hey, does Artie seem a little, I don't know, crankier than usual?" Pete asked us. Myka ignored the questioned and turned to face Pete.

"How long does it take to find a security tape?" A loud banging sound sounded on the other side of the bank and echoed to us. Myka jumped and turned to see that someone just dropped their book.

"Jumpy much?" I asked. Myka sighed and rubbed her forehead. Pete turned and face the doors.

"Ok, I don't think we're getting the tape." Pete observed. Myka and I pivoted ourselves to the doors and saw a woman with high heels, a short tight skirt and a blue blouse walk into the bank with three security agents behind her. She made her way over to us.

"Bella Belly, Chicago FBI."

"I'm Agent-" Myka extended her hand to Bella and began to speak but Bella cut her off and ignored her hand gesture.

"Bering, Fang and Lattimer. What do you guys want with my robberies?"

"Hi, guys." Pete waved at the agents behind Bella. "Nice ties."

"Um." I tried to speak but I was too distracted on what Pete was doing with his hand gestures to the agents. I cleared my throat and turned my attention back to Bella. "We would like access to any evidence, witnesses, or leads you might have."

"Now that I'm in your face, you ask nicely." Bella sneered. I glared at her.

"Now that you're in my face, I can definetly tell."

"Tell what?"

"I don't like you."

"Ok." Myka jumped into the conversation.

"I made a call." Bella continued. "A bad shootout in Denver gets you shipped to DC, where, together, you almost lose the president. Then you get exiled off the reservation into my town, humping my leg."

"Nice leg." Pete muttered.

"Agent Lattimer!" I snapped at him. I had forced myself to get into the habit of calling Pete Agent Lattimer in the field even if we were in a relationship.

"Look we're here to help." Myka said.

"I don't want it." Bella retorted. "You three have a reputation for leaving disaster in your wake. Your own agency doesn't even know why you're here. Stay away from my investigation. Enjoy Chicago. Try the pizza." Bella walked off to talk to a bank teller and Pete's eyes followed her.

"I'm in love." He said. I stared wide eyed at him and he quickly looked down at me. "With you of course, Lilypad." I groaned and shook my head.

"Kiss ass." I muttered.

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I stood next to Myka, arms crossed over my chest, looking at the computer screens in front of her.

"I'm rankled, ok?" Artie said through the farnsworth. I looked at Myka curiously at the word rankle and gave her the _Is that even a word _look. She nodded her head. "I'm officially rankled. You had to go and call Dickinson to get access?"

"Just don't take it personally." Myka said, going through security footage.

"It's entirely professional. I'm just saying that you could have come to me and I could have got you whatever information that you need."

"We needed access, Artie, not information." I insisted.

"Let me be clear. I'm your boss now, ok? You hit a roadblock, you call me. I remove it. Not Daniel Dickinson, me. All you old contacts are off limits, no exceptions. Warehouse security demands it. Understood?"

"Yes." Myka answerd. "Can I have your attention now?"

"Show it to me." I began to type on the keyboard sending the footage to Artie. "Show it to me." I pulled up the file and jumped to the point where men walked into the bank and one of them stood in the center and opened up his trent coat. "Yeah, ok, freeze." Myka hit pause. "What is inside that one's coat?" I looked closed at it. Three circles on each side of the jacket.

"I don't know. A bomb or something?"

"Do any of these tapes have sound?

"No, no, they're all silent."

"Why?"

"It's per a ferderal wiretap law, lest we overhear an account number not party to investigate." I explained.

"Alright. None of these witnesses recall any orders or demands from these robbers?"

"No, they don't recall anything. It's kind of like they have short term memory loss or something."

"Oh, well, you know, lights can do that. Yeah, they can. You know, like a strobe can do that. In some kind of flashing way."

"But nothing's flashing, Artie." Myka protested as she pushed play on the video to finish watching it.

"No, no, no. I'm talking about something at the edge of the visual spectrum. Something, you know, between the video's interlaced frames. You know, um, I had a case once where pollen from a prehistoric plant turned a woman into a sexually rapacious sleepwalker. And she was unaware that she was doing that until she, you-"

"Be quiet."

"What?"

"Artie, there's a man on his cell phone during this entire robbery." I looked closer to see a man holding his open cell phone.

"How did you see that?" I muttered.

"Do you see that?"

"Oh, really?" Artie asked. "Well. Well, that's good. Somebody overheard what was happening there, right?"

"An earwitness. Artie, I need the other side of that phone call.

"Just get me phone guy's name." I picked up a stack of folders to the left of me and flipped through them till I found a match. "Lance LeBlanc." Artie hung up and I sighed. "Well, good day to you, too, Boss."

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We met up with Pete at the FBI conference room and sat down as Myka began to explain to Pete what we found.

"So the guy on the phone was leaving a message on his wife's cell phone." Myka said.

"And Artie got his hands on it." Pete stated.

"Don't ask me how, I don't know."

"Nice catch."

"Thank you." The door to the room opened and Bella came in with a woman behind her.

"Camille, these are Agents Bering, Lattimer and Fang. Camille was one of the tellers."

"I already told you everything." Camille said to Bella. "I don't remember anything else. I can't remember anything."

"It's ok. Just tell them what you told me. It's ok."

"Yeah, yeah." Pete reassured Camille. "Please, sit down." Camille sat down across from Pete and me while Bella stood behind her. "We just have a couple of questions."

"Camille, when the suspects robbed the bank, they played a sound. Do you remember hearing anything?" Myka asked.

"No, nothing." Camille answered.

"Ok, we have a copy of a recording of a cell phone call that occured during the robbery and we're going to play it for you. So you just tell us what you think, whatever you can." I said and Myka pulled out a recorder and played it. Camille listened to it.

"Hey, Kelly." A man said. "I made the deposit. So if you want-oh god. Oh god, they're robbing the-" The sound cuts off and Camille's pupils dilated and she began to cry. Myka, Pete and I exchanged look as Bella moved around the table to see Camille crying.

"I think you should turn it off." Bella said and Myka did so. Camille's eyes reduced back to normal size and she sniffled and look at Myka.

"Hi." Myka greeted her.

"Hi." Camille said back. "Are you, uh, you gonna play something?"

"Camille?" Pete called to her and she turned to look at him. "Hi. What's going on?"

"Nothing."

"You feel ok?" Bella asked.

"I feel loved. I feel loved."

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"So, she had a strong emotional reaction to the sounds on the tape?" Artie questioned us.

"Yeah, but we weren't affected." Pete answered.

"See, what I'm thinking is that this is a limbic trigger. Yeah, the sound rings a bell in the primal, the lizard, part of the brain that connects to pleasure center, see?"

"Yeah, but we heard it too, and my limbic's not triggered. It's not even twitching, so-"

"Well, I would guess you'd have to hear it through the robber's equipment."

"Well, the bank teller heard it here."

"Yeah." Myka and I agreed.

"She heard it there for the second time, so cleary there is a sense memory component."

"Ok, so what are we looking for, Artie?" I asked. "Are we looking for souped-up speakers or Thomas Edison's wax cylinder?" Pete laughed and I looked up from the Farnworth at him with concern.

"Thomas Edison's what?" Pete chuckled the question.

"Ignore him." Artie ordered. "Ok, I'm scrubbing the sound for the melody. All composers leave a DNA, a chromatic DNA, inside their compositions, inside their music. That's why the Beatles sound like the Beatles, that's why Copeland sounds like Copeland."

"And this sounds like my dad's favorite song." Pete muttered.

"Whatever. What I'm doing here is I'm taking sounds and I'm putting them through a tonal deconstruction algorithm." Artie finished his sentece very slowly before looking at Pete through the Farnsworth. "Pete, what did you say?"

"What? No, I just-I said that sounded like my dad's favorite song, um, Center of My Soul by the Bricktones, 1960-something. My dad was just nuts for those guys."

"Eric Marsden."

"Yeah, yeah, that's him. He also wrote, uh-"

"Angel's kiss, A night in my arms."

"Ok, are you saying that this is one of Marsden's songs?" Myka asked Artie.

"The bank robbery remix?" Pete joked and Myka and I laughed.

"Uh, give me a second." Artie said. "Give me one-"

"You know, I never heard of Eric Marsden." Myka said.

"Well, that's because you were too busy dusting off Shakespeare at your Dad's bookstore." Pete said. "When I was eight, my dad took me to the Blue Note in New York to see Marsden. He was into Jazz then. Experimental stuff."

"This is his music." Artie said.

"Are you sure?" I questioned him.

"With a 98.7 probability. I think this is a completely new score. Or, it's a very old composition that's never been released until now. You're looking for an original recording of this song. You can start with Marsden."

"Well, where do we find him?" Myka asked.

"How about twelve miles south of the robberies? This guy's in Chicago."

"What? Is he playing somewhere?" Pete inquired.

"Uh, he lives there. 432 Argyle Street. His music, local crime scenes. I'd say this guy just hit the top of your suspect charts, so go, go, go." Pete closed the farnsworth and we stood up to put our jackets on.

"Four hours to rush hour."

"You're driving." I said.

"Bingo."

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Pete drapped his jacket over me as I shivered from the cold when we walked up the icy driveway to Eric Marsden's house.

"Looks like someone fallen on hard times, huh?" Pete muttered, looking to the pile of junk to the side of the house.

"Hard enough to rob banks?" Myka asked. She went up to the side door and before she could even knock, a woman opened the door and held up her hand to stop Myka from speaking.

"Just hold it right there." The woman said. "Whatever it is you're selling, I am not inerested." Myka pulled out her badge and held it up for the woman to see.

"We're with the government. We'd like to speak with Eric Marsden, please."

"What for?"

"Suspicion of bank robbery." The woman laughed at that statment.

"You've got to be kidding me." When we didn't answer, she stepped to the side and allowed us in before leading us to the den of the house where and an old man sat in a chair and stared out into space. "When my voice went, I needed something to do. I backed him up on over fifty records, so I guess this ain't much different. I've been his caretaker going on five years now."

"Does he have any family?" Pete asked.

"Ex-wife. She got remarried. She started a new family a long time ago."

"What about children?" Myka inquired.

"One kid. Haven't talked in years."

"So will he talk to us?" I questioned the woman.

"Well, he's bipolar, uh, clinically depressed and semi-catatonic. Last month he was diagnosed with liver cancer, but hey, go for it."

"How long does he have?" Pete asked.

"Maybe a year." The woman turned and pointed at me. "You ask the questions. Not you," She pointed to Pete. "As your timbre will bug him. And not you," She glared at Myka. "For he doesn't do too well with authority figures. And cellphones off. No ringing. And sure as hell no vibrating or he's gonna start screaming. So get to it, it's almost lunch." We sighed and slowly made our way to Eric in the den.

"Mr. Marsden?" I called out to him softly as I walked to the front of him. "My name is Lily. These are my, uh, friends, Pete and Myka. We'd like to ask you a few questions. We're looking into some trouble that we think might be connected with something you wrote. A song, possibly." Eric continued to stare out into space, not making any notion to acknowledge me. "Sir?"

"You have a beautiful voice." Eric finally said in a soft, raspy voice. "Could you sing something?" I exchanged glances with Pete and Myka before crouching down in front of Eric and clearing my throat.

"Cover my eyes, cover my ears." I crooned softly. "Tell me these words are a lie. It can't be true that I'm losing you. The sun can not fall from the sky. Can you hear a heaven's cry? The tears of an angel. The tears of an angel. Tears of an angel. Tears of an angel."

"Beautiful voice."

"Eric, is there something you wrote that affects people? Makes them happy? I mean-I'm not explaining this very well. Um." Pete played a note on the piano in the corner and then another note, letting the harmony ring through the crisp air and settle on our ears before continuing to the next note. I soon realized that it was the recorded melody that he was playing. I looked at Eric and saw light fill his eyes as he looked around the room but they quickly went dull again when Pete stopped playing.

"Did you see it?"

"See what?"

"Everything."

"Did you write that piece of music, Eric?"

"I want my grilled cheese now." The woman came back into the room and guided Eric to the kitchen where he sat down at the table and began to eat his sandwhich. She met us back out in the hallway and began to give us more details about Eric.

"Eric went from pop to jazz to experimental to just plain weird." The woman said. "And then he lived in the studio, writing and mixing and playing. Thousands of hours of music. He said he was looking for the key."

"The key to what?" Pete asked.

"I don't know. The human heart, peace, something."

"So where's his music now?" Myka questioned her.

"Stolen. Ask me, that's what broke him."

"Stolen how?" I inquired.

"Ever heard of Jeff Canning?"

"Windy Lake Records?" Pete asked.

"That's him."

"So what happened?" Myka challenged.

"What always happens when an artist meets a con man. One of them gets rich and the other one loses an ear. Eric didn't care about the money. Canning stole his music rights in a terrible deal. Eric was never the same after that. And now Canning is sitting on everything. So if you're looking for a criminal, talk to Mr. Canning. That it?" We all nodded our heads. "And thanks for playing the piano. He hasn't touched it in years but I always keep it tuned. It's good to hear it again."

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"So it looks like the boss man fell of the rich and powerful list." Pete said as we sat in the Windy Lake Records' waiting area for Jeff Canning. "The offices near the elevator are empty."

"The magazines are three months old." Myka observed.

"Well, money is tight all over."

"Except the banks in Chicago are just giving it away right?"

"Any idea on which one might be next?"

"I'm working on it, but if there's a link, I'm not seeing it yet." An old man came strutting around an office and stormed to us and we stood up to greet him.

"Hi, I'm Jeff Canning." The man said.

"Agent Pete Lattimer." Pete introduced himself.

"Agent Bering." Myka said.

"Shifter Agent Lily Fang." I said and Jeff shook hands with all of us.

"And what can I do for the government today?" Jeff demanded.

"Well, I have a few questions about an artist you represent." Myka said. Jeff turned and lead us to the back of the building and opened a door that had tons of boxes built on top of each other on both sides of us.

"I made a lot of deals over the and sold libaries. But ultimately my job is to get the music out there."

"What about Eric Marsden's music?"

"He isn't selling these days. Kind of fallen out of fashion. But I do have an offer on the table to buy his stuff. Of course, if you want to better it, it's yours."

"Who wants it?"

"Ah, anonymous buyer. I suspect it's a collector in Japan. They love the bubble gum." He lead us to the far right corner of the room and waved his hands to the boxes that surrounded us. "This is Eric. All his hits, his misfires, work-for-hire stuff."

"What's this?" Pete asked, pointing to a box with a brown label on it.

"Experimental self-indulgence that will probably never see the light of day."

"Why is that?" Myka requested.

"It costs more to market than you could ever get in return. For this, I blame Jed Fissel."

"Jed Fissel?"

"Eric's engineer. He bought into Eric's search for a new sound that people needed to be hear. New age crap. I spent way too much of money looking for it and most of it sounds like bricks in a blender."

"Where's Fissel now?" Pete directed.

"Last I heard, he was driving a cab downtown. But that was years ago. Look, what's this all about."

"Well, somebody's robbing banks in Chicago and we think that something that Marsden wrote might be involved."

"Anyone can find his stuff in flea markets to resale shops, peer-to-peer networks."

"No, it's something unreleased." I said. "Something the public has never heard until now."

"Not possible. Everything is right here, and I've got the only key."

"Mr. Canning, your lunch date's here and I've forwarded the phones." A girl said behind us and we turned to she a young woman with red hair standing at the end of the isle.

"Thank you, Stephanie. You can take off." The girl nodded and turned to walk out.

"Half days?" I examined.

It's no secret the industry's going through a few changes. Save a penny, earn a penny."

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We sat in a cafe on the corner of main street. Myka sat across from me which I sat next to Pete who was making little scenerios out of the FBI's notes.

"Been off the grid for six months." Myka said as she researched Jed Fessler's file online.

"Dead?" Pete muttered as he drew a stick figure in put it inside the bank scenerio.

"Unknown. There's a pattern. We're missing something that we're not seeing." Pete sighed as he dropped his scissors.

"Fridays, rush hour."

"No, besides that. Why these bacnks, these branches? And they're all over the city." Pete's phone rang and he picked it up to check the caller ID.

"Ooh. FBI." I squinted at him dangerously and he shrunk away from me in fear as he answered the phone. "Lattimer...Oh, if I had a nickel...Based on what?...Except maybe cab drivers."

"Ask her about Jed Fissel." I whispered to him.

"Jed Fissel." Myka repeated me. Pete dropped his down and pressed it to his chest as he spoke to us so Bella wouldn't hear us.

"The FBI is staking out the Midwesterner on Grand, ok?" Pete said. "Belly has a vibe."

"Do you?" I needled him. Pete thought about it for a second.

"No."

"Then I say they're wrong. We're on this."

"Well, but if it goes down and we're not there?" We looked to Myka for an answer as Pete gave her the puppy face.

"Fine, go." Myka sighed and Pete and I got up and raced out the cafe to head to the bank.

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I sat outside the SUV next to the curb, staring at the bank across the street. Bella and Pete were in the car talking. I was too focused on the task at hand to pay attention to what they were talking about.

"Lily!" I looked over my shoulder to see Pete's head out the window calling to me. "We got to get to Pearl! Myka's heading over there now!" I was on my paws in seconds and racing down the sidewalk, slithering through the crowd of people. I jumped onto a parked car making the alarm go off before jumping into traffic and rushing into an alley next to the bank to see Myka handcuffing a guy in a black mask. Bella and Pete pulled in behind me.

"What happened?" Bella asked, getting out of the car.

"Marble and stone and big, high ceilings." Myka said, ignoring Bella and talking straight to Pete and me. "That's what the music needs to work. Wanna ask the recording engineer? Jed Fissel, meet the FBI." Myka pulled off the black mask and revealed the face of the middle aged man. "If you ask nicely, he might give you the other two."

"Lock it up. I need video. I need tech out here right now."

"It's a gray van. No windows, no plates and the right rear tire is walled." Bella nodded and walked away to her car as a FBI agent escorted Jed to the car. Myka waited until everyone was out of earshot to talk to us. "They're using a record player. Lika a, a close n'play."

"Ok, so there's a record." Pete stated.

"Possibly in a, in a silver case. I got hit with it. There's three susptects, including Fissel. One was a woman."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I felt her."

"Did you touch her boobies?" Myka punched him in the shoulder and I nipped at his ankles and we turned to walk away. "Ow."

"Yeah, like that hurt."

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We walked through the FBI building towards the elevator with Bella, two guards and Jed in front of us and two more guards picking up the rear.

"Hey, look, uh, I screwed up, ok?" Pete said to Myka. "I'm sorry you got hit."

"Don't worry about it." Myka assured him. "Let's just get Fissel talking, find this record, and go home, all right?" Pete stopped and turned to look behind him. I halted and looked at him with concern as the others kept walking. He looked back in my direction with worry in his eyes. Uh-oh. He just got a vibe.

"Myka?" Myka stopped and turned to him.

"Yeah?"

"Do you still have those earplugs?"

"Yeah."

"Get 'em in." The elevator bell rang and we turned to see the doors open and three black figures stepped out. One of them held their jacket open for the speaks on their flaps and another played the record. The music traveled through the air and it came in waves as it filled my ears with sweet bliss. The notes banged around in my head causing me to close my eyes and letting my body go into the control of the melody. I let the melody take control over me. I had never felt so relaxed. So peaceful, so happy, so loved. I was so happy, I felt like I wanted to cry. And I almost did cry when the music stopped and I opened my eyes just in time to see the three figures dissappear back into the elevator with Jed.

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After Pete and I came out of our drunken state of being loved and happy from the melody, Pete figured out that it ws Canning's assitant and Myka put together that they were back at Eric's house. We headed to his house and once we got there, I shifted and took the lead through the front door. Myka and Pete were behind, guns in hands. The caretaker for Eric came around the corner and gasped when she saw us. Myka and Pete cocked their guns and I braced myself in attack mode as the woman held up her hands in surrender.

"Where's Jed and Stephanie?" Myka whispered to the woman.

"It was never about the money." The woman said.

"Where's the record?" Pete pressed on. A piano began to play in the den and we looked in the direction of the sound before looking back at the woman. Myka and I slowly made our way to the den as Pete kept his gun on the woman. We entered the den to see Jed playing the piano and Stephanie was sitting next to Eric by the roaring fire. Beside the piano was the whole collection of Eric Marsden's collection that we saw back at Canning's storage room.

"It was never about the money. She missed her father. She had to bring him home." Pete cocked his head to the side, signaling the woman to enter the den before him and he decocked his gun and put it back into his holster. Myka did the same.

"Canning said he had a buyer." Myka concluded.

"An anonymous buyer." Pete added. "His daughter."

"Everything fell apart." The woman said. "He couldn't write anymore. He'd lost his music, he lost his daughter. There was nothing left for him to hold on to, so he let go.

"We have to call the FBI." Myka whispered to Pete.

"Why?" Pete returned the question in a whisper.

"Why not?"

"The bank robberies? They're not our problem. That's our problem." He pointed to a silver case on top of a pile of records.

"Belly will find them."

"Maybe. But maybe not." Myka turned and left the house as I slowly walked forward to the silver case. I picked the handle of the case up in my teeth and dragged it off the stack and turned to follow Pete out the house leaving the Marsdens alone.


	2. Chapter 2

I paced the entrance to the exhibit in the museum as Pete was inside switching the guillontine that beheaded Marie Antionette out with a fake. Myka was off somewhere taking care of the guards. Pete's voice came in over the earpiece.

"Lily, Myka, I could use a hand down here." He said.

"I'm distracting the gendarmes first." Myka hissed through the earpiece. "That was the plan, remember? Did you switch the blade yet?"

"If I had I wouldn't be calling you, would I?"

"Hang tight." I said as I headed into the exhibit towards the back. "Be there in two."

"No, Lily, stay put." Myka ordered. "I'm closer. I'll go." I ignored her and kept walking.

"Sorry, Mikes, you're breaking up."

"Lily!" I found the guillotine and saw Pete hanging upside down behind the blade, trying to reach through to grab the wrench that he dropped. "Uh, Pete. Time's up."

"C'mon, almost there." Pete groaned as he struggled to reach for the wrench.

"Need help?" I called to him on the other side of the lasers that surrounded the artifact. But before either one of us could say anything, a creaking noise sounded and I saw the blade dangerously wobble above Pete's head. "Pete! Look out!" I shifted and jumped over the lasers and slammed myself into Pete's chest, pushing us back through the hole just as the blade dropped missing us so close, I could feel the blade graze my fur. My added weight to the rope caused it to break, dropping Pete and I down to the lasers. Once the laser lines broke rank, the alarms blared all around us.

"Aw! Now look what you did!"

"Well, I wasn't just going to stand there and watch the blade cut my boyfriend's head off!" I shoved my hands into my purple latex gloves and grabbed the blade off the stand began to running towards the exit with it. "Hurry up and put the replica in!" Pete did so and quickly rejoined me and helped me put the blade in a silver case. We met up with Myka in the main hall as she just finished off two French guards.

"Very nice. You must be super fun on a date. Guys love that. All kick ass action and no talking."

"You didn't follow the plan." Myka snapped at us. "Now hurry before they get up." We turned and begin to walk towards the exit, the alarms still blaring.

"I'm sorry? News flash, your plan wasn't working."

"Let's go."

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"Ok, Marie Antoinette Guillotine blade bagged, tagge, and on the shelf." Pete said as we stored it on a shelf in the warehouse and we began to walk back to the office.

"Congratulations, but remember to charge the tesla next time?" Myka growled at him.

"Are you still going on about the tesla?"

"What I am going on about is protocol. I mean, you do know how to read, don't you?"

"You know, when you frown, that premature wrinkle line on your forehead gets a little more prominent."

"You, you just hate it when I'm right."

"Well, thank God that never happens."

"You, you, you know what I don't get about you?"

"How I wake up in the morning looking this good?" I laughed and he smiled down at me.

"No, no, Pete. What I, I don't get is your pathological need to ignore authority, ok?" I scoffed.

"Who died and put you in charge?"

"Well, considering that I'm more mature than both of you combine, it's goes without saying."

"Oh, my God." Pete chuckled. "You were not in charge in Paris."

"Well, neither were you."

"No one was in charge." I argued. "We were supposed to work as a team to get the blade and I have to admit, we did an ok job. We bagged it and we tagged it. Case closed. I didn't see any reason to argue anymore. But if we had to vote on someone besides ourselves to be in charge, I would have to pick Pete."

"Why? Because he's your boyfriend?"

"No...well, yes...but I would pick him because you're too...snappish."

"What is that? You two are like children!"

"You're like an uptight control freak." Pete said. Myka started yelling at Pete and I started yelling at Myka and Pete started yelling incoherently. At this point, I had no idea what we were arguing about and then purple goo fell on our heads and slithered down our bodies. I gasped as the goo ran down my back. I looked up at Pete to see him wipe his face off and flick the goo off his fingers at Myka before walking away with me behind him.

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"A nun, a teenage, and an old lady all acting very strangely in Unionville, Colorado." Artie explained our next case when we returned to Leena's Bed and Breakfast and got cleaned up. "I have research hear that indicates that each of these people knew exactly what they were doing. The thing is, they couldn't stop themselves from doing it for some reason."

"Well, could there be a practical explanation?" Myka asked. "Something in the water-" Artie quickly shook his head.

"I checked."

"Maybe it's just a bad flu bug." Pete suggested.

"Well, only three cases in a town of thousands indicates that it was something non-viral. Although, I still need to rule out anything bacterial, parasitic, prionic, viroidic and of course, fungal."

"I was kidding."

"No, no. Never rule out anything until you've ruled it out. Oh, and I want you guys to ask each of the victims my life of field recovery questions." Pete groaned and hung his head at the thought of going through that ten page packet of questions.

"Artie, please, not the questions." I whined. "Anything but the questions."

"Yes."

"Please?"

"God, they're embarrassing." Pete said.

"Yeah, my only pleasure left in life." Artie smiled. "Concocting ways to embarrass you. Here, in case you lost them take this." He handed Myka a blue folder that must have held another set of the questions.

"You know, how can it matter if a person smells fudge before an incident?" Myka questioned Artie.

"Yeah, or if your gallbladder is feeling numb?" Pete read off a question.

"Humor me." Artie said. "All right, I want you to go to Unionville, find out if these three people are connected in some way. And if they are, is there an artifact at the center of it? If there is, bring it home. Simple."

"Easy peasy. Oh, uh, transpo. My truck's still in Lake Michigan."

"God, that was cold." I murmured, shivering at the remembrance of the place.

"Word." Artie sighed as he pulled out his car keys and tossed them to me.

"Take my car." Artie grumbled. "Just no food, no drink. Don't go over fifty five. Don't park near anything. Lily drives at all times." Pete and I looked at him with concern. "What? After a certain age, a person likes to have a nice car." Pete and Myka rolled their eyes.

"Go ahead to the car, I'll meet you two out there." I told Pete. He nodded and walked out of the inn with Myka behind him. I turned to Artie. "Artie, one of us has to be in charge. It's hectic out there in the field because we don't have that leader in the group." Artie smiled and pointed at me.

"You."

"Good. Glad that you and I both agree on it."

"Well, of course, Lily. I mean, you're the obvious choice. Uh, just do me a favor, please? Let Pete think that he's running things. He's very, very touchy and I'm sure it would hurt his pride if his girlfriend bossed him around."

"I can make that work."

"Good." I began to walk out of the inn when Artie stopped me. "Lily!" I turned to him again. "Can you do me another favor please? Could I look at your necklace while you're gone?" My hand flew up to my white with sapphire gems choker necklace.

"Why?"

"I just want to look at it."

"But why?"

"Lily, please, I bet you'll barely miss it on the case." I frowned but reluctantly took off my necklace and handing it to him, feeling a great loss of energy and a bad case of vertigo.

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"There could be a probable explanation." Myka said as we walked the streets of Unionville, Colarado and I pulled my coat more tightly around me. "High-tension power lines, a nearby chemical spill. People just don't go crazy."

"Uh-huh." Pete murmurmed.

"Why don't you go to the, to the local county, uh, records office, see if you can pull the geographics, and I will-"

"How about we just talk to folks and get a vibe for the town first?"

"We need a plant, Pete. Something with a little more logic and a little less kumbaya."

"That plan seems logical to me." I said, agreeing with Pete.

"Or we can just, you know, imporvise."

"Pete-" Myka began to argue with him when glass breaking sounded behind us. We turned to see an old woman stab a newspaper stand with her cane, breaking the glass. She then placed her right foot on top the newspaper stand and kicker it over into the street. She bent down and grabbed a newspaper and turned to us.

"Fifty cents, can you believe that?" She questioned us before walking across the street to a bakery. Pete looked back at Myka.

"See what happens?" Pete asked her.

"Ok, now we have a plan." Myka snapped at him before following the woman to the bakery with Pete and me behind her.

"No, now we improvise." We entered the bakery to see the woman trying to communicate with a guy talking on the phone.

"Aw, to hell with them, you know?" The man snapped to the other person on the phone. "What do they know?" The woman tapped the guy's shoulder trying to get his attention.

"Would you mind please?" The woman asked him.

"Lady, I'm on a break, ok? Do you mind?" He returned to his phone call. "It's some old lady with free medical advice, probably." The woman staggered back a couple of steps as if she lost her balance before focusing her attention back at the man. She grabbed the back of his head and slammed it into the glass counter in front of him, shards of glass entering his face, scratching him up.

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Pete and I were outside talking to the sheriff while Myka was inside the bakery talking to the paramedics who were talking care of the man and the woman, Morgan.

"That's one crazy old lady in there, huh?" Pete questioned the sheriff.

"Oh, no." Sheriff disagreed. "Morgan's an eighth-grade English teacher. She's as sane as I am."

"Wait a minute. She spends all day with thirteen year olds and one blue tool sends her over the edge?"

"I guess everybody has their limit."

"Any similarities between her, the flying nun, and that violinist kid?" I asked.

"What did you say you were doing in Unionville?" I opened my mouth to answer that we were Secret Service but as my left reached for my badge in my back pocket, Pete grabbed it and held it to his chest.

"Oh. The wife and I are just passing through, you know?" Pete answered. "We're on our honeymoon, so. Anybody mention smelling fudge or-"

"What exactly do you do for a living, Mister-"

"Pete. I'm Pete. This is Lily. And you're-"

"Hey, Jose." A female police dispatcher came in over the sheriff's walkie talkie.

"Um, I'm Jose." He answered. "Everybody around here just calls me Jose." He turned and got into his car.

"We got another situation."

"What's up, Sal?"

"Hercules Lexington was caught trying to set the music room on fire. Principal wants you to come down."

"On my way, Sal. Have a nice honeymoon." Jose started the car and drove off towards the high school.

"Honeymoon?" Myka's irritating voice sounded behind us and we turned to face her as Pete let go of my hand. "Why would you say that?"

"I wanted a cover." Pete answered. "I don't want to say who we are just yet, you know? We stay on the down low, we operate more freely."

"Ok, you just can't run around town saying whatever comes into your head."

"And who are you to say that he can't?" I snapped at her.

"We have to stay under the radar, remember? Stealth?"

"But covers are like the definition of stealth." Pete said. "Plus, I'm very good at them."

"You're ten years old. You are. You are ten years old."

"Says you." I muttered.

"You know, I'm gonna go interview the nun."

"Fine." Pete said. "Sounds like the violinist kid is getting worse, so Lily and I will go check that out. If that's all right with you, Sarge."

"You're eight years old." She yelled as she walked away from us.

"Says you!" I shouted at her as Pete and I turned to walk to the school.

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We were walking by the police station and saw Jose getting out of his car and heading up the steps to the building.

"Hey, Mac." Pete called to him. Jose stopped and turned to us. "Hey, sorry to bother you, but can I ask you a few questions about the Lexington kid?"

"A strange way to spend your honeymoon there, Pete." Jose said. I pulled out my badge and held it up for Jose to see.

"Fang and Lattimer." I said. "Agent Lily Fang and Agent Pete Lattimer. Secret Service." Pete pulled out his badge too to show Jose.

"Secret Service? I hope you're not flashing that badge all over town and scaring folks."

"No one's trying to scare anybody." Pete assured him.

"I got enough problems around here lately without people thinking this is some kind of terrorist plot."

"He just said that we're not here to scare people." I said. "There's no plot."

"Look, Jose, if you just let us do our job, no one'll be hurt-" Pete began to talk but Jose cut him off.

"Uh, no, sir." Jose said. "Not if your job is sneaking around, lying to folks. I don't trust people lie to me."

"We just need to ask Hercules a few questions."

"Hercules Lexington slipped into a coma about an hour ago. Now, can the, uh, Secret Service explain that? Because the doctors sure as hell can't." Jose gave Pete one more glare before walking into the police station, leaving Pete and me speechless.

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"So, wait, the snow bank saved her life?" Artie questioned us when Myka called us to tell us that the nun dropped from the top of the church.

"Yeah, I mean, Sister Silver is alive, but she's all busted up from the fall." Pete informed him."

"Should put the snow bank in the warehouse. Ok, sounds like it's intensifying. Is Hercules still in a coma?"

"Yes." I answered. "We were just over there. The doctor said he just kind of shut down."

"Ok, well that sounds like it's, uh, causing some kind of regression. You gotta find this thing fast, before it gets worse. You got that?"

"Yeah." Pete said. "Uh, have you seen anything like this?"

"Well, actually, once. There was this litte bell and what it did is it made people laugh."

"Oh, well, that doesn't sound very dangerous."

"Oh yeah? Well, the victims would ultimately laugh themselves to death. Cardiac arrest due to asphyxiation."

"Freaky. So what you're saying is, there's always a link?"

"Always. And you just keep looking under rock, and I'll do what I can from here, ok?" Pete shut the farnsworth and pocketed it. Myka came into the bar and walked over to us and took off her gloves, sitting on the left side of Pete.

"So nothng connects." Myka updated us. "Hercules never had Morgan as a teacher, Morgan doesn't know Sister Silver, and Sister Silver taught Sunday school, but Hercules never took it."

"So they're all doing things completely out of character."

"So if someone does something totally opposite from what they normally do-"

"Drugs." Myka and I stared at him with concern in our eyes so he cleared his throat and tried to come up with another suggestion. "Although, the old lady and the nun don't strike me as crackheads."

"Not so much." Myka waved to someone by the door of the bar so Pete and I turned around to see the medic, Blackmore, from the bakery incident standing there. "Hey, I thought the medic might know something so I asked him to meet me after work."

"Good idea." Pete kissed my left temple before getting up to leave.

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"Can you think of anything these people have in common?" Myka asked Blackmore as we sat down at a table.

"I, I can't." He answered. "Uh. Meg isn't even from Unionville. She's from Colton."

"Well that could be important." Myka bent over her notepad to fill in some notes. "How far is uh-"

"Can I just touch these?" Blackmore reached over the table and grabbed Myka's breasts.

"Hey!" Myka and I both exclaimed, jumping up out of our seats.

"Blackmore!" The bartender scolded him.

"I'm sorry." Blackmore apologized, standing up and looking around frantically. "I'm sorry. I don't even know why I do that. I never done anything like that before. I'm married, I told you right? I have twins, I told you that?"

"Wait a second." Myka said as a thought came into her head. "Just wait a, a second." Myka bent back over the table to examine her notes when I watched Blackmore as he stumbled from his loss of balance.

"Can I just touch this one?" Blackmore reached for Myka's right breast but she grabbed his finger and twisted it back and around making the bones crunch and making Blackmore fall to the ground in pain. "Ow!"

"Ok, I think I know what's going on here."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. That hurts. I don't know why I keep doing that."

"I believe you. I'd just rather you didn't do it again, ok?" He nodded and she let go of his finger. "Blackmore, you lost your balance."

"What? What?"

"Right before, you just, you lost your balance. So, did Morgan before she threw that guy through the glass. And Hercules in the video."

"What are you, what are you saying?"

"You've got it." Myka grabbed Blackmore's wrist and handcuffed him to a pole so he wouldn't grab anymore breasts. "Ok, so we know that you've been in contact with Morgan. What about, uh, Sister Silver or Hercules Lexington?"

"No, I don't even know Hercules and I've only seen the sister at church." Myka sighed as the door to the bar opened and a man walked in and headed straight to the bar and grabbed a glass of whiskey from a guy when Pete came into the bar and smacked the glass out of the guy's hands.

"Pete?" I called to him confused, as he stood there looking at the guy.

"Hang on, Lilypad." He said over his shoulder, never taking his eyes off the guy.

"Thanks, Pete." The guy said.

"Yeah, it's all right, man." The guy stumbled back into the bar and turned around grabbed the bottle of whiskey from the bartender and was almost about to drink it when Pete grabbed the bottle from the guy. "Hey, hey, hey, hey. No, no, no, no, no, no."

"Chris, what are you doing?" Another man asked, coming into the bar.

"Yeah, you got over twenty years man. What's up? Did something happen to you?"

"Why? Who are you?"

"He's Pete." Chris answered. "Pete, this is Ash Davidson, my therapist."

"Oh, for crying out loud." Myka groaned behind me and I turned around and saw Blackmore gropping Myka once more. She grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back making him cry out in pain once more.

"Ow, ow!" Blackmore cried. "Ow, okay! I'm sorry, I won't do it again. I won't touch your breasts anymore!

"What are you doing?" Ash questioned Blackmore. "We talked about this." Myka, Pete and I exchanged looks.

"Wait, you talked to Blackmore?" I asked.

"Wait a minute." Pete said before Ash could answer. "Do you treat an old lady named Morgan and a teenage violinist?"

"I can't discuss my patients with you." Ash sneered.

"We got a lot of questions for you, Pal."

"Chris? Chris!" We turned around to see Dave fall to the ground unconcious.

"Better uncuff me." Blackmore said. Myka uncuffed him and he dropped to the ground next to Chris to examine him. "We need to get him to a hospital right away. Call 911."

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"Ok, so what then?" Artie asked. "Chris is in a coma too?"

"Yeah, he collapsed right in front of us." Pete informed him. "The doctors are bringing in some specialists."

"Well, I doubt that specialist is gonna be any help. I mean, I think ultimately shuts down the central nervous system. I'm worried that it's gonna go further and shut down the body entirely. What about that therapist?"

"Yeah, I'm going to see him now."

"And I'm gonna go see Father Penn." Myka said. "See if I can get some details about when Sister Silver went into therapy. Maybe it's time-related.

"Time?" Artie questioned her. "No, no, no, no, no, no. The pattern of behavior here is the result of individual contact with the same artifact. So it was something they, um, found. Or they might have seen. Probably they touched it."

"What am I looking for?" Pete asked.

"Anything that might cause an electrical or chemical imbalance in the brain."

"Oh. Oh, well. Oh, so, a brain imbalancer. That's easy. It's probably right next to his time travel machine."

"No, no. Trust yourselves. You're gonna know it when you see it. That's why we chose you. Instinct, speed and observation. You're a great team. I have nothing but faith." Artie closed his Farnsworth, leaving us to ponder our thoughts.

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"I don't care if you're James Bond." Ash sneered when Pete and I started to question him about his patients as we looked around his office, looking for anything that might look like it could be an artifact. "What a therapist discusses with his patients is complelely privileged."

"Well, not under the patriot act." Pete muttered.

"I have no intention-" Pete picked up a bell and rang it and we both looked at Ash to see if it affected him. When Ash just sat in his chair, staring at Pete with concern, Pete quickly cleared his throat and put the bell down.

"Look, Ash, people are being hurt. Believe me, you want to help us or you're not gonna have any patients left. What's this?" I turned to Pete on the opposite side of the room and walked over to him to see him staring at a pocket watch. Pete lifted up the lid that contained the watch and picked it up.

"Don't touch that, please. I just acquired it."

"Really?"

"Well, don't pick it up. It's an antique. Belonged to Joseph Dunninger, the famous mentalist."

"Are you kidding me, man? What, you didn't think that this was worth mentioning?"

"I collect pocket watches. There's nothing in the patriot act about that, is there?" I pulled out a silver bag and opened it for Pete to drop the watch in.

"I have to take this with me."

"You what?" Ash stood up from his chair and came around his desk and took a step towards Pete and me.

"Don't snap your pencil. I'll get it back to ya."

"Maybe." I smirked at Ash before following Pete out of the room.

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Pete and I sat at the bar waiting for Myka to meet up with us. The bar door opened and we looked in the direction of the bitter wind expecting to see Myka but instead it was Sheriff Jose and he walked menacingly towards us, with an evil look at his face. He sat to the right of Pete as Pete leaned protectively towards me, not liking the vibe that was coming off of Jose.

"Ash just called." Jose said. "He's very upset. Now I want to know just what the hell you three are up to. I got people to protect in this town." Pete opened his mouth to answer but Jose cut him off. "You think you can just walk all over me?"

"Dude, you're taking this kind of personal, don't you think?" Pete asked.

"The Secret Service. Anybody could buy a badge on the internet. I don't know what you three got planned, but I will do whatever I have to to protect my country. Chew on that." Myka came into the bar as Jose walked away from us.

"Oh, hey. And where have you been?"

"No, I have-" Myka began to speak but Pete kept talking.

"We've been here for half an hour. Oh, and the sheriff is a little spooky, FYI. But don't worry, because Lily and I found it." Pete chuckled as he pulled out the silver package that contained the pocket watch and held it up for Myka to see. "Ta da! Joseph Dunninger's watch. He's a famous mentalist, in case you didn't know, so score one for the Pete-Dog. Swish!" He reacted as if he was throwing a basketball into an imaginary hoop and acted like the crowd was going wild. "Ah!" Myka lost her balance on her right foot and then straighten up before looking up at Pete. "Don't worry, you're still in charge. I mean, look, we can't all be heroes all the time. Your chance to be a hero will come-"

"You're an ass." Pete and I gave her a confused look. As much as Myka disliked Pete's childish behavior at points, she would never go to the point where she called him an ass.

"Huh?" Pete and I questioned her. Myka pulled her right arm back and her fist shot forward like a piston, making contact with Pete's nose. Pete stumbled back a step, gripping his nose and crying out in pain.

"Ow!" Pete cried out.

"Myka!" I snapped at her.

"Jeez Louise." The second Pete let go of his nose, Myka's fist made contact with his nose again. "Ow!"

"Myka!"

"Ok, little girl. Fun's over." Jose came up behind Myka and touched her shoulder which was a big mistake because she turned around punched Jose in the nose, causing him to fall to the ground.

"Myka?" Pete called to her and she turned back around and faced us. "I think you got it. You're infected."

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"Thanks for bailing me out, but this is ridiculous." Myka protested as we left the police station. "I've been eposed to the artifact, I should stay locked up."

"What am I supposed to do, let you sit in jail and quietly slip into a coma?" Pete questioned her.

"I could get really dangerous, Pete. To you." I laughed.

"I don't think you could do any harm to Pete." I said.

"You know, I'm going back inside." She turned to head to the police station but Pete stopped her.

"Wait, wait, wait." He said. "Myka, look."

"No, you look. You have a job to do. How can you trust me if you know that I could turn on you at any minute?"

"Because I do, ok? I just do. You're going to have to do more than take a swing at me. Besides, how are you gonna be in charge if you're jail, huh? Who's gonna tell me what to do?"

"That's why you become leader if Myka drops out, Pete." I said, nudging him with my elbow and smiling up at him. The farnsworth began to ring and Pete dug into his jacket pocket to retrieve it and opened it up to Artie. "Hey, Artie."

"Artie, I, I, I've got it." Myka declared immediately. "I've been exposed."

"Are you sure?" Artie asked.

"Oh, yeah, we're sure." Pete insisted. Artie sighed before continuing to speak.

"Ok, well it's just that much more important to find this artifact fast."

"Hey, Artie, look. So, there's no way it could be that watch, right? I mean, maybe the, uh, you know, the anti-magnetic bag thing didn't work."

"It is not the watch. Myka didn't touch the watch."

"And Sister Silver wasn't even a patient." Myka stated. "I told him it wasn't the watch. I told you it wasn't the watch."

"That's not annoying at all." I muttered sarcastically.

"Look, guys. You're doing great. You just have to go out there and be looking." Artie ordered.

"Artie, I've been exposed." Myka reminded him. "I have to stay locked up."

"Yeah, I told her I could handle it." Pete said.

"Please, like you handled the bar? I mean, come on-"

"Hey!" Artie yelled at us. "Get it together. People are in hospitals. It's only a question of time before somebody dies from this thing that you have not found yet."

"All right." I said.

"Ok." Pete and Myka agreed.

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"Ok, so maybe there's something going on before it affects you." Pete said as we jaywalked across the street towards a white picket fence.

"Pete, I insist that you handcuff me." Myka insisted. "Make sure that I can't hurt you."

"Look, Myka, let's find the artifact by retracing our-"

"I need you to disarm the danger first-"

"I just don't understand why you can't just-"

"You're supposed to-" Pete brought his hands up to his temples getting frustrated with Myka.

"Just listen to me for once!" He said in an irritated tone.

"Get your head out of your ass and stop trying to take charge for once!" I yelled over him. Myka stopped and we halted too to face her.

"Uh-oh." She said and a second later, her fist shot out at Pete who was quick to duck it and pin Myka's arms behind her back. "Sorry about that."

"No, no, no." Pete brushed her apology off. "No, no. No worries. It's my fault. I kind of did that on purpose. I mean, what were you, what were you thinking just then? What were you feeling?"

"Nothing." Myka said, putting on her failing poker face. Pete and I stared at her waiting for her to tell the truth. "Ok, I was kind of thinking that you were an infantile chimp. I'm sorry."

"No, no. Ok, that's good. So obviously it affects your subconscious."

"Subconscious." Myka broke away from Pete's grip and turned to face him. "Subconscious desires. Pete, that's it. Morgan wants revenge."

"Sister Silver wants to escape." I added as Pete flapped his arms, mimicking Sister Silver's belief on that she could fly.

"Uh, Blackmore, I bet that Blackmore's wife is still breastfeeding."

"And Hercules secretly hates the violin."

"And you subconsciously want to punch me every five minutes." Pete said.

"Ok, sometimes." Myka corrected him. "But why me and not you or Lily? And why hasn't the whole town gone nuts?"

"Ok, well let's just retrace our steps. Where have you gone that Lily and I haven't, ok? We were at the-"

"Coffee shop."

"And at the bar." I said.

"I was in jail, but nobody else there was affected-So, I don't-" Pete looked towards the ringing church bells and noticed something.

"That's Blackmore." Pete stated and Myka and I looked towards the church too to see Ross walking side by side with his wife to the church with his twins in a stroller.

"That's Morgan." Morgan was talking with another woman as she just entered to the church.

"You've been in that church."

"Twice. You?"

"Nope." Pete and I answered. We walked across the street and down the block to the church and headed to the far side of the church to Father Penn's office.

"Father, it's in the church." I announced as we entered his office and found him standing in front of his desk.

"What's in the church?" Father Penn asked.

"Hercules Lexington, Morgan, Chris, Blackmore." Pete named off everyone that's been affected by the artifact. "They're all members of your congregation, right?"

"What do they have in common?" Myka questioned him. "Are they on some committee together?"

"No, they're not even-" Father Penn began to answer but his voice trailed off as he remembered something. "Oh, wait. I've seen each of them recently. They've each been in here."

"Wait, wait." I stopped him so my brain could process the information. "Here? Here in this office?"

"Here." Myka muttered. "It's in here. Of course it is. I've been in here, too. Pete, Lily, you should get out of here. You have to get out of here now."

"Can't be that simple." Pete said.

"Why?"

"Father Penn isn't affected. Father, where do you talk to them? Where are you sitting?"

"In that chair." Father Penn answered, pointing to the chair behind Myka.

"And I sat-" We looked to the chair beside the one that Father Penn was pointing at. I felt like a part of me connected with the chair and I somehow knew that that chair was the artifact we were looking for.

"It's the chair." Pete, Myka and I said in unsion. We turned back to Father Penn.

"Father, where did you get this chair?" I asked him.

"I inherited it from my great, great, great, great-"

"Too many greats. We got it." Pete pulled out the Farnsworth to call Artie.

"How long have you had the chair?" Myka asked Father Penn.

"About a week or so." He answered, looking curiously at the Farnsworth in Pete's hands. "What is that thing?"

"Uh, it's a, it can, we, it-" Myka stuttered, trying to find an explanation.

"Never mind." I cut her offf. "Pete?"

"Father, Father, what's his name?" Pete asked. "The original owner. Your great, great, great, great-"

"Ron Penn. He was a doctor." Father Penn informed us.

"Did he, did he-wait, did he say Ron Penn?" Artie asked.

"Yes." Pete, Myka and I answered in unison.

"He's the father of hypnotherapy."

"Artie, that's it." Myka said. "Father Penn has his chair. That's gotta be it, right?"

"Hang on, hang on. He's a direct descendant. If he's got the same DNA, the same vocal patterns. It's in the iron springs."

"The springs in the chair." Pete clarafied.

"If they become ferromagnetized like, um, uh, silverware can."

"Screwdrivers."

"Years of powerful hypnotherapy and brain waves."

"All those patients sat in this chair and those springs began to work on their own."

"Releasing their subconscious desires." I added.

"Combined with the sound of his voice." Artie put in.

"Like a tuning fork." Myka said.

"Are you saying this chair caused all this?" Father Penn questioned us.

"I know, it's freaky." Pete said. "This stuff is always freaky."

"Artie, how do we reverse this?" I asked.

"I don't know." Artie answered.

"You don't know? Artie Neilson doesn't know how to destroy an artifact? That's, that's a first. That's shocking news."

"Listen here, you smartass, have you tried to dousing the chair? That-" Before Artie could finish his sentence, men and women began to scream out in the church. We looked up from the Farnsworth towards the screams. "Lily? What's going on?" Pete closed the Farnsworth while Artie was still talking. Pete and Myka ran out of the office as I tried to concentrate on my wolf inside of me so I could shift but I couldn't locate it.

"You have got to be kidding me. You're failing me now?" I groaned and ran out of the room on my two feet, pushing my way through the running and screaming people as I ran down the hallway towards the church. I joined up with Pete and Myka to see Jose with a gun in his hand at the back of the church.

"Jose!" Pete called to him.

"There you are." Jose growled at us, pointing the gun in our direction. "Just who I was looking for.

"Sheriff, put the gun down." Myka ordered.

"It's a virus. You planted a virus in my town and I've gotta contain it." A shot rang across the church at us Myka fell to the ground as Father Penn dropped when the bullet connected with his right shoulder. Pete pushed me to the ground, covering me with his body. Two more shots sounded. Father Penn groaned in pain.

"Ok, ok." Pete muttered, getting off of me and crawling towards Myka and Father Penn. "Father, are you hit anywhere else?"

"Oh, it's my shoulder." Father Penn moaned. "It hurts."

"Yeah, you usually feel pain when you get shot." I said sarcastically.

"Well, I take it Sheriff Jose sat in that chair recently." Pete said as Myka took off her jacket to press it to Father Penn's wound. Blackmore crawled over to us and began to look Father Penn over. "Where are Hermione and the twins?"

"It's ok, they're outside." Blackmore reassured us.

"The canister of goo is in the trunk." I informed Myka and Pete.

"I'll take care of the father." We slowly peered over the top of the seat in front of us at Jose.

"I'm gonna clean up this town, you understand me?" Jose yelled, waving his gun around. A woman whimpered in fear as the gun passed over her. Jose took off his coat to reveal a vest on his chest which held a bomb. We exchanged looks before dropping back to the ground.

"Get him outside." Pete said. "Right now."

"And get everyone as far away from here as possible." Myka added. Blackmore nodded and started to usher the injured father outside as Jose continued to rant and rave.

"Do you think the tesla would ignite that bomb?" Pete asked us.

"Let's test that theory another day, shall we?" I shot down his idea.

"Then go douse the chair, Myka. Lily and I will take care of Captain of America."

"No, no." Myka protested. "He hates you. You go douse the chair."

"For once, would you just let me call it."

"It would be better if you weren't here, Pete?"

"Why do you always have to be so bossy?" Something washed over Myka making her fist shoot out, smashing into Pete's nose.

"Myka!" I growled at her.

"Ow!"

"I'm, I'm sorry." Myka apologized and she buried her head in her hands in shame.

"Would you stop doing that?"

"I, it's, it just-stop pissing me off, then."

"All right. You know what? Fine, fine."

"Come on out and I'll let these people go." Jose said. We peered over the seat again and when Jose spotted us, he pulled the trigger and fired at us. Myka grabbed Pete's head trying to push him down to the ground but instead, his forehead slammed into the edge of the seat and he dropped to the ground in pain.

"Ow!"

"Myka!" I growled.

"Sorry, sorry." Myka apologized.

"I'm fine." Pete said. "You know, if you were gonna ask me how I would die, I would say that being beaten to death by my partner would be really low on the list."

"Just go do the chair." I ordered him.

"I'm gonna go do the chair." And he crawled away towards the exit.

"Stay down!" Jose shouted to the people in the church. "Stay down!"

"Don't do this, Jose!" Myka yelled to him, staying close to the ground. "Try and focus. This isn't you."

"Some must die so others will live."

"You don't want to hurt these people, Jose." I said as I began to crawl under the seats towards him. "I know what you're feeling. Just try and fight it."

"I will not let this evil spread to the rest of the country. It ends here!"

"There is no danger, Jose." Myka tried to reason with him. "Listen to me, look around you. You know these people, right? They're your friends."

"Hey, I doused the chair!" I heard Pete yell as he came running back into the church. "It's over!" Pete's voice must have angered Jose because shots began to fly again. "Ok, I'll be right back."

"It's a trick!" Jose yelled. "You're trying to trick me!"

"It's not a trick, Jose." I shouted to him as I crawled under the third seat. "We're on your side. We're trying to help you."

"If you want me to trust you, then show yourself. Show yourself!" I took a deep breath before crawling out from under the seat and standing up with my hands in the air to show Jose that I wasn't a threat. Myka followed my lead.

"Take us." Myka said. "Jose, we're the ones you want. Not them."

"There's probably dozens of you in town by now. Hundreds."

"Nah, it's just us." I assured him. "We're the bad guys, Jose. All right? Let them go."

"You and your friends are dead."

"Jose?" Myka called to him as Jose pulled out something from his pocket and pressed a button and then I realized, he just started the timer on the bomb.

"They never should have sent women."

"No you did not." I said angrily. I rushed towards him and tackled him to the ground, Myka immediately behind me. Jose pushed me off of him and rolled on top of Myka, his fingers curling around her neck. I tried to pry his fingers off her, but he kept a firm grip. "Pete. Anytime now." Jose gasped and slowly let go off Myka's neck.

"Agent Bering. Agent Fang. What the-"

"There's no time." Myka said hastily as she began to tear the vest off of him. "Just help me get this thing off. Can you disarm it?"

"No." Pete came running back to the church and reunited with us.

"Is he still?" Pete asked.

"No, but the thing is still ticking!" I said as we finally got the vest off. Pete took the vest from us and ran outside where only seconds later the bomb went off, shattering every window in the church. I covered my eyes only to open them back up and look in the direction of the doors that Pete just exited. "Pete?" No answer. I took a deep breath. He's coming back. He'll be back. It's Pete. It takes him awhile. "Pete?" No answer." I took half of a breath not being able to find as I began to panic. "Pete!" The door opened and Pete walked in and looked at me confusingly.

"What? What?" I let out a heavy breath and fell the ground feeling exhausted.

~Warehouse 13~~Warehouse13~~Warehouse13~~Warehouse13~~Warehouse13~~Warehouse13~

"It wasn't so hard, was it?" Artie asked us once we returned to the warehouse and began to do paperwork on the chair so future agents could look back on it. I sat next to Pete at the table as he gobbled down his fifth cookie.

"No." I answered. "No, it wasn't hard. Not at all."

"No, it was almost, I don't know, fun." Pete said and Artie chuckled.

"But, um, Artie?" Myka called to him as he picked a cookie from the plate and sat down in his chair.

"Mm-hmm. Yeah, what is it?" Artie asked. Myka, Pete and I switched looks not knowing how to tell the Artie the bad news.

"Uh, look, Artie." I cleared my throat.

"Mm-hmm?"

"First off, we wanted to say thanks for letting us use your car, you know." Myka said.

"Oh."

"That, that GPS system." Pete awed. "That's just-"

"Fantastic." I finished for him. "Yeah, and the seats."

"Oh." Myka agreed.

"I think that leather was custom made, right?" Pete said.

"It was, like, corinthian leather." I described the comfortable seats of Artie's car.

"What happened to my car?" Artie questioned us, getting a worried look on his face. "Did you, did you ding it?" We exchanged looks among us once more.

"No." Myka said.

"Absolutely not." Pete said.

"No way." I agreed.

"Ding, no." Myka gave a nervous chuckle.

"I wouldn't say-" Pete couldn't bring himself to finish his sentence.

"Then what?" Artie asked. We looked down at the table not able to make eye contact with Artie.

"Ok, look." I said. "Pete needed somewhere to throw the bomb. Someplace enclosed." Artie got a horrified look on his face as he stood up, mouth open in suprise.

"Oh God."

"We didn't manage to save your cassette." Myka said as she pulled out a burnt cassette tape from under the table. Artie slowly walked over to the table and gingerly took the tape from her in shock.

"I love that car. Love-loved." Myka, Pete and I looked at each other once more and started laughing.

"Ah!" Pete laughed. "Pysche!"

"Gotcha!" I yelled.

"That's what you get for lying to us." Myka added. Artie glared at us for playing the prank on him.

"Let Myka think that she's in charge." Pete imitated Artie.

"Yeah. Lily's touchy. Make her think that she's in charge."

"Pete's pride will be hurt if he's bossed around by his girlfriend." I laughed. "Make him think that he's in charge."

"You know what I'm saying?" We gave each other a high five.

"What a burn." We laughed as we got up from our seats.

"You like that?" Pete asked Myka and I as we walked out of the office to the warehouse. "I've been working on it-"

"The eye are a little, I don't know-"

"But it's the thing. It's the mouth." I smiled at both of them, happy that we finally worked on something without fighting. I then remembered something and turned back to Artie who was throwing the burned cassette player away.

"Artie?" I called to him.

"Don't tell me that you're going to play another prank on me, are you?" He growled. I smiled and gave a soft chuckle.

"No. I was just wondering if you still had my necklace."

"Yes." He pulled out my white leather necklace with a sapphire on it and curiously looked at it.

"What is it, Artie?"

"Was this passed down to you?"

"Yes."

"By who?"

"My great-grandfather. Blaine Jinks. Why?"

"Because this is Blaine Jinks' dog collar."

"Meaning?"

"This is an artifact. Back in 1944, Blaine Jinks got separated from his group, leaving him stranded out in the wilderness for weeks with nothing but the clothes on his back and his dog, Sadie. Sadie was his protection and Blaine was her companion. But the longer they were out there stranded, the weaker Sadie got and just when she was on the brink of death, Blaine took this collar from her neck and put it around his own, merging their souls in his body. Though it killed Sadie's body, her soul lived on within his, still protecting him, by allowing him to turn into her body whenever there is danger. But the connection between them could only be maintain if Blaine had the collar on. Blaine Jinks was eventually found and returned home only to die eighteen days later in his own home. I guarantee it was because he took the collar off and put it on, never wanting to put it back on again and having the connection with his best friend. He died from the downfall of the artifact. Dehydration after three. The body then starts to shut down from the symptoms of lack of sleep after eleven days. And the body starts to eat itself from the symptoms of starvation after eighteen days. All three of those are things that Blaine and Sadie experienced when they were out in the wilderness."

"So what are you going to do with it?"

"I have no choice to give it back to you. You've connected with the collar. I take it away now and you'll die in eighteen days no matter how much you drink water. No matter how much sleep you get. No matter how much food you eat. So, here." He handed it to me and I reluctantly took it from him, wrapping the collar around my neck and feeling the power of the artifact once more.


	3. Chapter 3

We pulled up to the warehouse after snagging an artifact from a zoo which was a horrible experience.

"The door's open." Myka mumbled and I looked between the two front seats to see the metal warehouse door slightly opened.

"That's not good." Pete said.

"You think?" I muttered as we got out of the car. Myka and Pete pulled out their guns and I shifted and followed them cautiously to the door. We walked down the white tunnel and Pete entered the office first with Myka up against his back and me between them. We scanned the room to see everything in natural order. Artie's Farnsworth began to chime from his desk and we exchanged worry glances.

"Artie would never leave his Farnsworth." Myka said.

"Yeah." Pete agreed. "If there were trouble, Artie would have triggered the-"

"Alarm?" Myka held up a detached alarm button in her hand.

"Someone took Artie?"

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"Damn it, I don't know what esle to do." Myka snapped getting frustrated after searching Artie's computer and finding nothing. "The cache is wiped, there's no tracks outside and there's no clues in here."

"All right, don't worry, ok?" Pete said. "We'll figure it out somehow."

"Don't worry?" Artie's Farnsworth began to rang and I shifted and raced over to it, being quicker than Pete and Myka and answered it as my two partners crowded around me. Mrs. Fredrick, our superior, scary boss, appeared on the screen.

"I'm calling for Artie." Mrs. Frederic said in an irritated tone. "You three are decidedly not he."

"Mrs. Frederic." I greeted her. "Hi. Oh, look, we got some really bad news."

"Look, Artie's gone." Myka said. "Someone took him."

"That doesn't happen." Mrs. Frederic informed us. "Agents don't get taen out of the warehouse. Our security system is-" Pete held up the broken alarm button, cutting Mrs. Frederic off and worry washed over her face. "I see. If the person has breached the security, he's taken Artie."

"Any idea who this guy is?" Pete asked her.

"None."

"So can we put out an APB or alert the authorities?" I asked.

"We are the authorities. What did learn from the durational spectrometer?" We looked at each other in confusion of not knowing what that was. "It shows the afterimages of anyone who's been in the room in the last five hours. Once you've ID-ed them, let me know. And stay put. I don't need four missing agents. Consider yourself under lock-down." She closed her Farnsworth, cutting the connection between us.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Be careful." Myka warned Pete as he twinkered with the spectrometer that looked like a police speed meter.

"Ok, ok." Pete said. "Um, let's let's open this baby up and see what she's got." Pete pointed the meter at the door to the exit and a bronze hologram of Myka, Pete and I entering the room appeared before us. Pete chuckled in amusement. "That's cool. Wow. Ok." Pete messed with a knob on the meter and the hologram slowly began to move around the office, retracing our steps when we entered the office.

"That is so crazy." I muttered.

"Ok. Wow." Pete messed with the knobs again. This time when he turned the meter back on it showed Artie handcuffed with a nineteen year old girl with short hair standing in front of him. The girl roughly grabbed Artie by the cuffs and pulled him out of the office. "Strange person with Artie."

"Who is that?"

" I don't know." Myka mumbled. Pete turned the knob counter clockwise and the next image was Artie on the ground on his knees. He then got up and walked backwards and sat down in his chair as if it was rewinding.

"Ok, that's weird." Pete said. Artie was now in his chair, talking to the strange girl standing in front of him. "Did you see that?"

"Is he saying something?" I asked, looking closely at Artie's mouth. "But what is he saying?" Pete turned the knob rewinding what Artie was saying and it making it go slower.

"That's a trip." He messed with the knobs some more.

"It's, I, I can't." Myka said.

"Claudia Donovan." Myka and I looked at him in surprise.

"How, how did you?" I questioned him.

"My sister taught me to read lips."

"Why does your sister-" Myka began to ask but Pete cut her off with his answer.

"Uh, the deaf find it handy. Ok, Claudia Donovan, where are you now?" Pete sat down at Artie's computer and began to look up Claudia's name.

"Mrs. Frederic said we should stay here."

"I heard no such thing." I said.

"I didn't hear that either." Pete played along with me.

"Neither did I." Myka followed in. Claudia Donovan's file appeared on the screen and I began to rapidly read, picking out the important information about her.

"Looks like she was institutionalized." I read.

"What if she's dangerous, Lily?" Myka questioned me.

"Then we have to be quick on our feet before she can hurt Artie."

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"Is Claudia in some kind of trouble with Secret Service?" Muriel asked us when we showed her our badges. She was Claudia's landlady and we decided that this was our best route to take if we wanted to find Claudia and Artie.

"In the four years that Claudia lived here, did she ever give you any problems?" I asked her.

"No, not at all. She was very nice."

"Well, what can you tell us about Claudia?" Myka questioned Muriel.

"Well, I'm not one to gossip, but you might not know. She lost her parents when she was just a child, poor thing. Her brother raised her. Then, a few years later, he passed too. Can you believe it? More bad luck than a turtle on his back. She went off to live with a foster family. Well, if you ask me, I think it all just finally hit her."

"And then six months ago, she checked herself into a psychiatric care clinic." Pete stated.

"You know about that? Of course you do, you're the government. You probably know what pills I take in the morning. Anyway, she keeps up on her rent."

"Can we have a look in her room?" I asked polietly. Muriel lead us into the house and up the stairs.

"She checked herself out two months ago." Pete continued. "Has she contacted you?"

"Well, no." Murial answered. "I haven't seen her."

"She's got a home base somewhere."

"Did she ever, um, did ever stay with friends?" I asked as we approached a closed room at the end of the hallway.

"I don't think so." Muriel said. "She kept to herself. No boyfriends, no girlfriends. I'm very nonjudgmental. Here we are." She pulled out her keys and unlocked the door, opening it just a crack.

"Thank you, Mrs. Richmond." Myka said. "We'll just take a look around."

"I guess I can trust the Secret Service." We entered the room as Muriel walked away. Pete turned on the light and we stared in shock as we eyed the papers tacked to the wall. Not a single square inch of wall showed. It was completely covered with newspaper clippings, maps, notes, large sharpie lettering spelling out, 'Where's Artie?' Pictures of a young Artie was on one wall above a paper written in Latin. Where is Artie now was on another piece of paper.

"Oh boy." Pete gasped as he walked to the far side of the room. "I'm guessing this is the brother." Myka and I turned to see Pete holding a picture of a little girl in the arms of a young man.

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"So far, none of this stuff is telling me where Claudia might have taken Artie." Pete said. "Are you finding anything?"

"For a kid, she seems pretty focused on the sixteenth century." Myka said, looking at Claudia's bookshelves. "She's definitely a thinker."

"Always dangerous."

"Rehticus." Myka pulled a green book off the shelf and opened it up to a random page.

"Rheti-who?"

"He was a, uh, mathematician and mapmaker. A student of Copernicus." Pete looked at her questioningly. "Yes, Pete, I read books growing up."

"Right. Why go to the prom?"

"Of course you did."

"Yeah, three times in one night." I put down my book and leaned on my left arm that was supported by the desk, placing my right hand on my hip and staring at Pete in shock. "It's a long story, Lil."

"Hmmm. I bet it is." I muttered, returning to my book. "I bet it is."

"Well, it looks like our girl genius took something with her." Myka brought us back to the case as she stared at an empty space on the bookshelf.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHH

"Ugh, Pete," I whined, my head falling and my forehead falling to the book in front of me. "I think I'm going to die from boredom." We had been looking through all of Claudia's stuff trying to find anything that would give us to another lead on why and what she wanted with Artie.

"I'm right there with you, Lilypad." Pete muttered closing his book and rubbing his hands over his face. "Hey." He looked over at Myka who was sitting in a chair by the window already on her third book. "What is that?"

"Nothing." Myka answered, shaking her head and putting the book down. "Um. Nothing. It's not important." Pete groaned as he rubbed his face once more. "Hey." Pete and I both raised our heads and looked over at Myka who was looking in two books at once.

"Hmm?"

"Um, a compass. Rheticus claimed he owned it, only no one ever saw it. It says here it probably never existed, it's just folklore."

"Ok, now is it just me or does that sound all artifact-y?"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOO

We were walking down the steps to head back to the warehouse when Pete's phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the caller ID.

"It's a payphone." Pete said.

"What?" I questioned him. Pete answered it.

"Lattimer...Artie. Artie, hey man, are you all right?"

"Ask him where he is." Myka whispered the order to Pete.

"Claudia Donovan..."

"Where is he?" I demanded but Pete held up a finger to silence me. "Wait, he probably doesn't know."

"Right, right. Uh, Artie, do you hear anything? Like a freeway? Machinery?"

"Train whistles." Myka added to the list. "Ask him if he hears-Any train whistles."

"You're helping her?" Pete shot me a confusing look and I transferred the look to Myka.

"He's helping her?" I snapped as I snatched the phone from Pete. "You're helping her, Artie?" Artie sighed on the other line.

"I figured that you'd be halfway towards finding us, but you can stop now." Artie said. "Did you hear me? You can stop."

"No, Artie, she's been under observation at a psychiatric facility, all right?" It was silent on the other line for a few seconds as my statement sunk in Artie's mind.

"Oh. I, I, I had no-Poor kid, I didn't know."

"No, not poor kid. Poor Artie. She's obsessed with you. She's obsessed with the warehouse. And I'm not letting you stay with her."

"You're what?" Artie questioned me in an amused tone. "You're not letting me? That's really cute, Lily."

"Cute. Cute."

"She's cute?" Pete asked, giving me a questionable look.

"Does she have a gun on you?"

"Ok, look." Artie said. "These kids lives were messed up by-They're in trouble, I can help, that's all you need to know."

"Well, let us come and help you."

"No! No, no. We have everything we need to make this work. And I'm telling you, I am fine."

"Well, Artie, wait, wait, Artie, Artie-" The line clicked before I could reason with him. I handed the phone back to Pete. "He hung up." I growled in an annoyed tone. "Now let's just get back before Fredric finds out we're gone."

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"Seriously, you, if Mrs. Frederic can call us, we should be able to call her." Pete complained as we entered the warehouse. "Is there a star 69 on this thing?"

"Star 69 wasn't invented when that was made." Myka schooled him.

"No, this wasn't invented when this was made."

"Why doesn't Artie want us to help him, Pete?" I asked him. "What's going on?"

"Yes," A voice sounded to the right of us and we jumped in shock, turning to see Mrs. Frederic standing there. "What's going on, indeed?"

"Man, I really hate that." Pete muttered to me.

"I believe I told you to stay put."

"No, I know. Um, it's just that we were going to, uh-"

"You know, it would be nice if we could contact you." Myka stated. "We had a lead, we decided to follow it."

"Don't, don't, don't make her angry." Pete said in a hushed tone.

"What kind of lead?" Mrs. Frederic asked.

"Well, uh, Artie is, is with Claudia Donovan."

"Voluntarily." I added. Mrs. Frederic looked down at her feet then back up at us. "Do you know where they are?"

"It's possible." She answered. "But we've got bigger fish. You need to get down to the warehouse floor. Find the San Anselmo Grid. On the Larkspur Shelf, number 1021, section 40594904."

"Wait, we have a right to know where Artie-" Myka began to speak but Mrs. Frederic cut her off.

"Ms. Bering, your right extends exactly as far as I say it does. If Artie is working with Claudia, he may be trying to recreate her brother's experiment."

"And that's bad?" Pete assumed.

"Where do you work?"

"Right."

"The Rheticus Compass." Myka said.

"Yes." Mrs. Frederic agreed with her. "His experiments were successful. That's why he didn't disappear into thin air."

"And Joshua did." Pete said.

"Yes, something went awry. You have to glean how Joshua went wrong twelve years ago."

"I still don't understand why you don't-" Myka once again began to talk but Mrs. Frederic cut her off.

"What? Tell her where he is? If you run after Artie, governed solely by your affection for him, you won't be helping him."

"I don't think it's a bad thing to care about Artie."

"He needs information, not emotion. If you go in empty handed, the experiment will end up just as it did before. You're merely three more lost bodies."

"Thank you." Pete said sarcastically.

"So what are we looking for on, on the San Anselmo Grid?" I asked.

"I'm not certain, but every artifact in this warehouse is an extension of a person. Understand Rheticus, understand the compass. And for the record, I care a great deal what happens to Artie." Mrs. Frederic turned and walked out of the office.

"Glean." Pete gloated. "Miss Fancy."

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"Useless." Pete read yet another tag on one of Rheticus's artifacts as we looked through a box of his things. "Useless. Useless. Useless. I'm guessing Artie thought these things were useless. I mean, they're all Rheticus gadgets, but none of them tripped Artie's trigger."

"Ok, so Joshua had to follow all these rules to try and make the compass work, right?" Myka said. "The kid even figuered out this complicated differential equation. He was a genius."

"Yeah, and the compass still didn't work." I said.

"Well, it half worked."

"Oooh." Pete awed.

"What is that?" Myka reached over the crate and took a silver ring from Pete's hand. "It's, it's engraved with the, the letter T."

"T? Why not an R? Why a T?"

"I don't know what it means, ok?"

"Snappish." I muttered.

"Look, Artie's notes said that Rheticus' work often expressed a need for order. So, what did Joshua miss? I mean, maybe he translated something wrong, or-" Pete pulled a golden globe on a stand with a ring around the globe from the crate.

"I don't know, I don't know, I don't know." Pete mumbled as he stared with concentration at the globe. "Maybe."

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"Rules and order, right?"

"Right."

"Ok, well, after spending the last couple of months with someone who also likes those things-uh, you know, crosswords, puzzles-"

"I like puzzles." Myka said in a defensive tone. "So?" Pete returned his focus to the globe.

"So." Pete grabbed the top of the globe and pulled it off the stand and turned it upside down to reveal lettering on the bottom side of the ring around the globe. "So did Rehticus."

"A secret panel."

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"Man, this guy was nuts for secret panels." Pete said as he looked more at Rehticus' artifacts.

"Yeah, and they weren't mentioned in any of Claudia's books." Myka said.

"Yeah, and if she didn't know, it's a safe bet that Artie and Joshua didn't know."

"Do you see the writing around these edges?" Myka showed Pete and me the wooden box she was holding in her hands.

"Yeah. It's Latin. Oh, let me guess. You speak Latin too."

"Ok, make one more nerd joke and I'm gonna point out how you're losing your hair." Pete gingerly touched his hair with concern. "Ok, so the rules, right? The rules are in Latin and rules teach us how to use the objects."

"So Joshua took them off the compass himself." I said.

"Yeah, but he was missing something."

"Rheticus hid some rules."

"And Joshua never saw them."

"Nice." Pete said and we turned to head back up to the office.

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"So there's something hidden on the compass." I informed Mrs. Frederic when we got back to the B&B.

"And we think it's the rule that Joshua missed." Myka said.

"Nicely done." Mrs. Frederic praised us.

"Now check this out." Pete said. "In Artie's notes, it said that Joshua had everything that he needed for his experiment in his lab."

"Where it was locked up for twelve years." I added.

"But before Artie hung up, he said that he had everything he needed." Myka said.

"Bing, bang, boom." Pete concluded. "Claudia took Artie to the lab."

"You took the initiative and you recognized what needed to be done." Mrs. Frederic said. "All in Artie's absence. I am pleased.

"I know, right? Score!" Pete held out a hand to Mrs. Frederic for her to high five it but she just stared at it absently. He slowly dropped his hand.

"Why the test?" I asked. "Is Artie going somewhere?"

"Let's hope not." Mrs. Frederic answered. "The directions are in the file. You should get to that lab and quickly. We don't know how much time we've got left."

"Quickly is my middle name." I smiled as we turned and huddled together as we made our way to the front door.

"Do you think she's weird?" Myka whispered the question to us.

"I think she's weird." Pete answered in a hushed whisper.

"She always acts weird." I answered.

~Warehouse13~~Warehous13~~Warehouse13~~Warehouse13~~Warehouse13~~Warehouse13~

We arrived in Swizterland to where Joshua's lab was held in what is now an abandoned building. Pete lead the way down a hallway towards a pair of doors that held crackling popping noises. He busted through the doors with Myka and me behind and we saw lighting crackling along the ceiling and Artie and Claudia on the far side of the room.

"Artie!" Pete yelled as we approached him.

"I told you not to follow me." Artie scolded us.

"Ok, dock our pay. We came here to save." I looked down to the ground to see Claudia passed out.

"Is that Claudia Donovan?" I asked.

"Yeah, yeah." Artie answered. "She's just unconscious. What?"

"Snappish."

"Joshua didn't have all the rules, Artie." Myka said.

"Rheticus loved puzzles." Pete added.

"And his design had secret panels." I updated Artie.

"It's inside?" Artie murmured the question to himself. "It's inside the compass."

"Yes. In Latin. Where is it? Artie, where is the compass?"

"We just have to pop open the panel and find out which rule it is." Myka said. "But where is it?"

"I don't, I don't-" Artie's voice trailed off as he took a couple steps from us, shaking his head, off in his own world. "No, no, no, no, no.

"Artie, what are you doing?" Pete called to him.

"I'm-I'm doing what Joshua did."

"No!" I shouted. "No! That's how he died."

"He's not dead. Claudia?" We turned to see Claudia staggering to her feet and Artie rushed over to her to give her his support. "I think I can save him. I thought what I have to do-"

"Don't do this." Myka protested. An anomaly formed in the room and began to circle around Artie and Claudia.

"Artie, what's happening?" Claudia asked.

"It's not over." Artie said as the anomaly formed itself into what appeared to be a young man reaching out to us. "Joshua?" Energy from Claudia seemed to be transferring itself from her to the anomaly. "Touch my hand." The figure reached further out to Artie. "Joshua!"

"Artie, no!" Pete yelled and a blinding light blinded us and we cover our eyes only to open them back up to see the anomaly, Claudia and Artie gone.

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

Moments passed as Myka, Pete and I stood there in shock not knowing whether Artie was gone for good or not when another flash of light came and Claudia, Artie and another man stood in front of us.

"Artie?" Myka questioned him as if she wasn't sure if that was really him or not. "Are you ok?" Artie slowly walked over to us leaving Claudia to sob and hug her older brother.

"Thought we lost you, Buddy." Pete said, patting Artie's left shoulder.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"So, the secret panel thing." Artie annouced as he backed his bag to head back to the warehouse once we were back at the B&B. "I gotta say, very nice work."

"Well, we were motivated." Pete boasted. "You know, maybe you should ditch us more often."

"Oh, I'm really sorry about that."

"If you ever do that again, I'm not finding you and I quit." Myka threatened him as we followed him to the front door.

"Yeah, just out of curiosity, by the way, how exactly did you figure out the secret panel thing?" We exchanged looks with each other.

"Well, each artifact is an extension of the person, Artie." I said. "We gleaned what we needed from the person."

"Mm-hmm. Mrs. Frederic. I thought so."

"Hey, hey." Pete protested. "She's pretty scary man. You know, if we hadn't found something, she probably would have glared us to death." Artie nodded in agreement and Pete turned to head up the stairs to his room and I followed him. I followed him into this room and closed the door behind me. "Getting lonely sleeping in your room?" I let out a light laugh.

"We're a couple." I said. "I don't think we should have separate rooms anymore."

"Whatever makes you happy, makes me happy, Lilypad." My cheeks blushed at my nickname as I walked over to him while he kicked off his shoes and socks.

"Say it again." My arms circled around his waist and pulled him towards me as he looked down at me with his adorable brown eyes and rubbed his hands up and down on my upper arms.

"Lilypad." I closed my eyes to the sweet sound as the nickname fell off his tongue like honey. His lips pressed firmly to mine and my knees threatened to collapse underneath me but Pete was one step ahead of me and his right arm curled around my lower back holding me up. He deepened the kiss, plunging his tongue inside my mouth and curling around my own tongue. His arms and lips left me as he took off his shirt and tossed it to the ground. His lips reconnected with mine and I let out a moan of pleasurement. He began to work with the buckle of his belt and stepped out of his pants and boxers so that he was standing naked right in front of me and it was only then when I felt like my clothes were trying to suffocate me. I quickly undid the button of my jeans and yanked them off my legs along with my underwear. Pete pulled my shirt up over my head and unfastened my bra strap and slid it down my arms. His hands clutched my stomach but I immediately pushed them away, my skin twitching when he made contact with the burn marks. He sighed and kissed the top of my head as I looked down at my feet. "Lilypad." I didn't like it when he touched my scars even though it felt so good. I guess I didn't understand why he loved me even if I was covered in scars. I reluctantly let go of his hands and they returned to my stomach, his thumbs running across the scars. I raised my head up to look at him and found his bottom lip and took it between my teeth, gently nipping and nibbling at it before sucking on it while I pushed him back on his bed, with me on top. He groaned and brought a hand up behind my head, his fingers tanglinf in my blonde locks as he tipped my head back and he pressed his lips to my upper lip since I hadn't given up on nibbling on his bottom lip yet. I released his bottom lip and pressed my lips to both of his, his lips slightly parted. I followed that kiss with one with my own lips slightly parted. I traced his bottom lip with my tongue, from one corner of his mouth to the other, and his own tongue darted out of his mouth, seeking mine out. I met his tongue with my own, teasing him with little flicks of the tip of my tongue against his. He fisted his hand in my hair and pressed his lips more firmly to mine, chasing my tongue into my mouth. I swirled my tongue around his in a few circles befoe flicking the tip of my tongue against his again. Then I started to massage his tongue with my own. He mimicked my movements. Pete groaned with I captured my tongue between my lips and began to suck on it. I sucked gently at first and he groaned once again into my mouth. I eased my lips away from his and smiled down at him. I leaned down to press kissed across his cheek and nibble lightly at his jaw, making my way back to his ears. He turned his head to give me better access. I nibbled along the rise of his ear and his hands roamed down and around to fill themselves with my ass, his hips rolling as he rocked my down against him. I couldn't help my whimper into his ear as I felt an amazing sensation erupt between my thighs. I nibbled lightly at his earlobe and he grunted, his hips jerking. I sucked gently at his earlobe and his breath caught in hs throat. But when I slid my tongue over his ear, his whole body shuddered and one of his big hands roamed up to press against my back, between my shoulder blades. I worked my tongue into his ear and wiggled it and he growled, deep and rumbling. I slowly eased my tongue out of his ear. I started sliding my body down to his chest. He looked down at me to watch as I let my tongue slowly slide out of my mouth and flick over his nipple. His head fell back and his eyes drifted shut as he brought a hand up into my hair. I swirled my tongue around the hardening peak and then started to suck gently on it. I gave a tiny nip before I gently raked my teeth over the sensitive peak. My mouth left his nipp and his eyes cracked open s he lifted his head off the pillow. I gazed up at him and flicked my tongue over his skin, making my way from his chest down his slender stomach to flatten my tongue and lave it up over his sparse happy trail. He groaned, his hands fisting in the blanket beneath us as I nuzzled at the thin line of hair above his navel. I gently nipped at the skin just above navel and then did the same to the skin below it. I smiled up at him. I brought myself back up to his face and leaned down to steal a quick kiss, pressing my lips to his for a few seconds and then pulling back. I smiled down at him and took his one of his hands and guided it between my thighs. His rough fingertips brushed over my slick entrance and I gasped, my head tipping back and my eyes drifting shut. His fingers slipped and slid over me and I gave a short little whine. He bit his bottom lip as he gazed up at me with lust. Soon enough, I was lying on my back and he was on top of me. He leaned down, his mouth finding my nipple and latching on. He sucked gently, his eyes never leaving my face. I tipped my head back and my back arched, pushing myself closer to his mouth even as I brought a hand up into his hair. He sucked a bit harder as I moaned. I bit my bottom lip, another moan bubbling up from my throat, and he sucked greedily.

"Pete." He eased his mouth back, turning his head to give my other nipple special attention. He slid down my body and turned his head to the side, nibbling his way up my leg, starting at my ankled and making his way to the bend of the knee. Once he hit that point, he started pressing hot, wet, open mouthed kissed inside of my thigh, his tongue teasing and tasting my sking. I went wild beneath, my hand fisting in his hair as I sighed and gasped. My empty hand went up to fist in my own hair as I moaned his name. "Pete." He nuzzled my shaved pussy and I froze, my eyes growing wide. I caught my bottom lip between my teeth as I watched his every move intently. He crawled back up my body and kissed my lips gently.

"I love you, Lilypad." I was too far in oblivion to answer him. I slowly ran my hand and fingers up his stomach and gently raked my nails back down over his skin. His muscles flexed beneath my touch and I bit my bottome lip, giving a moan of appreciation. He back up a bit so that he could fit between my thighs. I was spread wide for him, offering him everything. He lied down on top of me and ran his hands gently down my face. I was dying of pleasure. I needed him.

"Pete, please." He groaned, burying his faved in the crook of my neck as he reached down with one head to take his cock and guide it to my entrance. His found my hips and groaned against my neck. The head of his cock slipped inside of me. I moaned and my hands clutched her shoulder blades, my knees squeezing his sides. I rolled my hips with every flex of his hips and ass he gave, meeting his thrust for thrust. I kissed him until we were both breathless and he pulled back to bury his face in the crook of my neck, breathing me in deep and taking in my scent. I was starting to pant though, my skin growing hot to the touch. He pressed a couple hot, we, open mouthed kisses to my skin as a burning sensation began to form inside of me and I knew I was about to hit my climax. He placed another kiss to my neck and picked up his pace, thrusting his powerful hips harder, faster. I gave a breathly whine, my hands clutching tighter to his shoulder blades, my nails barely piercing his sking. He gave a little growl and latched onto my nack, biting gently and sucking hard. One of my hands made its way up into his hair, fisting the thick black hair. "Pete! Oh, God, Pete! Pete!" He eased his mouth away and smirked down at me. Pete's hands roamed down and around from my hips to my ass, squeezing my ample, well-rounded ass cheeks and guiding my movements. I gasped, my eyes growing wide and he brought his head down to capture one of my hard nipples between his lips. "Pete...Pete..." He angled his hips a little, hoping to slide a bit deeper inside of me, and I cried out, my thighs trembling around him and my hips stuttering for a few seconds as the head of his cock brushed over a rough patch inside of me. He arched his hips again, making sure he was sliding in at the same angle as he had before. And, once again, her hips stuttered as my thighs shook around him. I brought my legs up around his waist, enveloping him in my body and wrapping him up tight. It pulled him even closer to me and I brought his head down, coaxing him to press his face into my neck. I panted and whined and whimpered into his ear. And when I did reach my climax, he had to press his mouth to mine to muffle the sounds of my loud, breathy moans. My nails raked down his spine and his back bowed under the pleasure/pain sensation as he gave a deep, rumbling growl. My thighs shook around him even as the rest of my body trembled like a leaf in a summer storm. He held me tight against him as he grunted and growled. His hips jerked erratically as my walls quaked around his cock, sending him plummeting over the edge. He voiced a long, guttural groan into my mouth, which I greedily swallowed down, as he came hard. He rocked his hips until he was spent and then slumped over on top of me, tucking his face into my neck and listening to my fast, shallow breaths as they fanned over his ear. I turned my face to his, pressing a simple, sweet kiss to his lips and smiling against them. Then he slowly eased away from me. We both groaned in protest as he slid out of me. He lied down and I was quick to cuddle right up to him, tugging the sleeping bag over them and draping one arm around his waist as one of my legs curled between both of his. I rested her head on his chest and gave a contented sigh.

"I love you too, Pete."


	4. Chapter 4

"And this, this." Artie said as he handed us pictures of a metal sculpture that held a tiny red bead near the top of it.

"What artifact did that?" I asked him.

"Or is that the artifact?" Myka added on to the question.

"It was created by late, little known sculptor, Harry Cissy. And it was stolen late last night from a high end auction house in New York. But that's not the issue. The issue is how-this thing was stolen, because-" Artie's voice was cut off by Joshua talking really loudly coming down the steps of the B&B.

"Trying to figure out why, after I just got back into this world, you're in such a rush to shove me out the door." Joshua protested angrily to Claudia who was behind him so he turned to face her.

"Because I didn't spend half my life trying to save your life-so you could surf the net and watch youtube." Claudia retorted. We looked towards Artie who hung his head, annoyed by the two silblings arguing with each other.

"Well, excuse me for trying to catch up on current events and the state of the world over the last twelve." Artie left the table and walked over to Claudia and Joshua.

"Hey!" He shouted at them. "We're working. We're working right here."

"Artie, I'm sorry, but apparently I have to find a job. Don't know exactly what I'm going to put in that little gap in my resume."

"Well, hey, what about what got you there in the first place!" Claudia shouted at him as Joshua walked out of the front door.

"You!" Artie growled at Claudia and she turned to look at him.

"What?!"

"Don't you have something to do, like stay out of federal prison? And aren't you supposed to be writing me a full technical schematic on how you cracked my warehouse?"

"Yeah, Buddy, it's upstairs. It's almost finished."

"Well, then I want you to finish it. And I want ever redirect and every backslash. Go, now!" Claudia turned and began to walk back up the steps. "And then after that, you're going into the warehouse and you're going to rewire what you unwired when you broke it." Claudia leaned down and glared at Artie through the spaces of the pillars on the steps.

"I'd like to unwire you." She quickly stomped up the stairs before Artie could say anything else and he walked back over to us.

"Ah," He waited to listen as Claudia's bedroom door slammed. "The patter of little feet." Pete laughed and crossed his arms over his chest.

"All right, so, Artie, somebody boosts an ugly sculpture." Pete said, getting us back on track. "Why does that involve us?"

"OK, what is significant here is how this thing was stolen. I mean, this theft was imposible. There was a high end alarm system and eight inch thick walls, sealed vaults. So once second, that sculpture was there, next second gone."

"But it's still just a well executed art theft." I said. "I mean, it doesn't automatically shout warehouse, does it?"

"Things rarely shout warehouse. They usually whisper, hey, isn't this a little odd?" Pete laughed and mumbled unintelligibly at Artie's tiny voice when he said 'hey, isn't this a little odd?'. "Yeah, well, I could be wrong. I mean, it could be nothing. But I'm probably not wrong. The last time I was wrong was 1987, June."

"Stop right there." Myka said. "That, I want to hear more about that."

"Not a chance. Go." Pete stood up from his seat and stretched.

"Ok, here we go." He mumbled. "Goin'." Myka headed for the door while Pete and I stood there for a second longer, staring at Artie.

"Go, go, go, go, go."

"Hey, Artie."

"Yeah."

"Hey, ah, you know how I love New York."

"Oh, great town.

"It is."

"Yeah."

"So I was just thinking-maybe you guys could kick down some tickets to a show, or-"

"Well, it depends on the show."

"Really?"

"No! Get out of here. Show, like you're going to have time for a stupid musical." Pete and I headed for the door. "Or that I'd even pay for it."

"Off broadway is not that expensive."

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

"Snorkack's auction house prides itself on security." Hermione gloated as she led us deep into the vault where the sculpture was stolen. "This theft has us stumped. Video surveillance shows nothing."

"I'm assuming you use an electronic lock that records all activity." Myka brought up.

"And it says the door never opened."

"Who's selling the piece?" Pete asked.

"Private esate. He decided to auction after he was approached by two interested parties, both with deep pockets." We came up a door and Hermione typed in a code and it opened for us.

"When is this auction scheduled?" I questioned her.

"It was for today. Follow me." She led us through the door and to a room in the far back.

"So the theif takes one piece." Myka said. "Was it the most valuable one here?"

"Oh, far from it, but there's no accounting for taste."

"Oh, I don't know, somethings are just classics." Pete said. "Two interested parties, huh?"

"I'll get their info." She began to walk out of the room with Pete behind her.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAA

While Pete was questioning the two parties, Myka and I were looking around crates and items, trying to find any clues. A smell aroused my nose, causing me to inhale deeply.

"Hey, Myka?" I called to her.

"Yeah?" She answerd me.

"I smell fudge." Something caught my left eye and I looked behind a crate to see a feather sticking out of a wall. Like half of it was in the wall and the other half was hanging out. "Uh, Myka? Call Pete." Myka called Pete and about half hour later, Pete was reunited with us.

"What are we talking about here?" I heard Pete ask Myka as she lead him over to where I was and I pulled on my purple gloves.

"Well, it's right here." Myka said as they met up with us. "You can see it." Pete sighed at the sighter of the feather. "Right?"

"What the hell?"

"Ok." I reached out to grab the end of the feather.

"Easy, Lilypad." I gently pulled on the feather and glowed brightly as it came out of the wall. "Oh!" It shimmered and sparkled as I held it up for us to see. "Huh." It then died down to look like a normal feather. Pete reached out for it but I pulled it from his reach.

"Pete, no!" I snapped at him and he looked at me with his puppy dog brown eyes. "No."

"Artifact behavior usually requires a human element, right?"

"Yeah." I said, apprehensively. I sighed. "Just be careful."

"Ok."

"Ok?"

"Ok." Pete grabbed the feather from me and it shimmered and sparkled again at his touch. He laughed at the experience. He dipped the feather into the wall and pushed his feather into it but it didn't stop there. His hand went in and his whole arm went in up to his elbow.

"Oh my god."

"Check it out."

"It's crazy." Myka breathed as Pete pulled his arm back out.

"Ok. You see, this is one of those artifacts that I'd really like to keep." Myka pulled out a silver bag and opened it up for Pete to put the feather in.

"Pete, put it in." I said sternly.

"Hey, Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit out of me hat." Pete stuck his arm down through the top of a crate and when it reached his elbow, Myka pinched his upper arm, causing Pete to pull his arm out of the crate. "Ouch!"

"That's what I thought." Myka said.

"What, that pinching causes pain?"

"No, no, I know that. But the feather, it only works up to your elbow."

"So not enough to get in and out with a sculpture."

"Exactly which means that this is only part of the artifact. It's not the whole thing."

"Well, at least that narrows it down. We're looking for an art stealing bird that walks through walls."

"Like Artie always says-"

"Never rule anything out." The three of us said in unison. Pete dropped the feather into the silver bag and it sparked as it was neutralized and Myka sealed the bag up before pulling out the Farnsworth and calling Artie and telling him the situation.

"Show me." Artie ordered as we were done telling our story. Myka opened the bag and held it sideways so Artie could see the feather inside. "Looks Native American."

"Yeah, we think it fell off something larger, a ceremonial object, a walking stick, a peace pipe maybe." I said.

"Or a bird." Pete added.

"Any guesses who this thing belonged to?" Artie asked us, ignoring Pete's remark.

"Ah, well, maybe one of the two guys who wanted to buy the sculpture, but we haven't interviewed one of them yet. Longbottom's too rich to risk it. He could outbid Pine Paw. I think we can rule him out."

"N-Ne-Never rule anything out." Pete, Myka and I exchanged looks.

"Ok, ah, well, the second guy's a rich dude. His name's Thistle Heart."

"Thistle Heart. Is that the son of Bumble Heart?"

"Um, Artie, who is Bumble Heart?" I asked.

"Yeah, was. He was an extortionist, real estate swindler an a ravager of cultures. Not a nice man, now deceased. And yes-Son, Thistle, lives in New York. So look, unless the acorn fell very far from the tree, watch your backs."

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

"Mr. Heart will be right with you." The woman said as she lead us out of the elevator to Thistle Heart's penthouse before walking off.

"Thank you." Pete said. We walked down a hallway, looking at all the artwork on the walls.

"Wow." I awed.

"Call the cops, crime solved." Pete said rushing down the hallway and Myka and I followed him to see the stolen sculpture on a stand in front of a window.

"It's not what it looks like." A male's voice sounded behind us and we turned to see Thistle Heart walking towards us.

"No?" Myka questioned him. "Because what it looks like it that you're in possession of stolen goods."

"Take a closer look. That's not the one that was stolen. There were four in the series, each named for one of the four elements. This one is fire. The stolen one is wind. Check with the auction house."

"How can you tell them apart?" Pete asked.

"You're a trained expert with a scrupulous eye for detail or you read the brass plaque on the bass." We looked at the plaque under the sculpture to see it read, Fire. "Thistle Heart."

"Myka Bering." Myka introduced herself to him. "Pleasure." Pete cleared his throat as things became awkward when Myka and Thistle kept staring at each other.

"Ah, righ." Pete said. "Um, do you mind telling us where you were last night?"

"Hosting a chairty event for the children's hospital in New Orleans." Thistle answered before walking away from us.

"Rich, good looking, likes kids. Who's on a date now?" Myka glared at him before turning her attention back to Thistle.

"Ok, ah, you said that there were four sculptures-Earth, wind, and fire." Myka said.

"Rock, wind, and fire, actually, and water." Thistle corrected her.

"Right."

"It's the artist's tribute to Native American creation myth."

"Native Americans, huh?" I questioned him. "You into that stuff?"

"Eh, it's an interest."

"You wouldn't happen to be missing a feather, would you?" Myka asked him. "Maybe off something that lets you walk through walls."

"What'd you just say?"

"You got a lousy poker face here, Thistle." Pete said.

"New Orleans is, what, a three hour flight away?" I asked Myka and Pete. "You're still on our suspect list."

"Thorn, get in here." Thistle ordered. Another man began to walk down the hallway towards but Pete flipped out and pulled out his gun.

"Whoa, hey!" He yelled as he pointed his gun to the guy and even though we were completely confused on Pete's actions, Myka and I followed his lead and pulled out our guns and aimed it at the guy too. "Hold it right there. Don't move. Let me see your hands."

"What is it?" I asked Pete.

"This dude was at Longbottom's construction site. Yeah, he was giving me the stink eye."

"It's all right." Thistle said. "His name is Thorn. He works for me."

"We'll decide when it's all right, ok?" Myka snapped at him.

"He also works for Longbottom. It's-It's complicated."

"Hey, wait." I said, a thought coming to my mind. "You work for Heart and Longbottom?"

"Look, Thorn's not the problem. If what you said about someone walking through walls is true, the sculpture isn't safe."

"You think they're coming after-this one next, don't you?" Myka questioned Thistle.

"Look, we're standing right here." Pete said. "I think we got it covered."

"Thank you, but I can provide my own protection." Thistle stated.

"That's not an offer." I snapped at him. "If somebody's walking through walls-the United States government needs to know who and how."

"All I can tell you is that this sculpture is the next target. So please, let me move it to a secure location."

"All right, well, hold on." Pete said as he pulled out his badge and held it up to his ear. "What's the, Badgy? Hmm? Oh, ok. Sorry, Badgy says we stay with the sculpture. So wherever it goes, we go."

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

I ran padded alongside the truck that held the sculpture. Thorn was driving with Myka in the passenger seat and Pete in the back with the sculpture. I gave a little more boost to my legs and sped up to be near the front of the truck. Which was a big mistake because the truck screeched to a halt and I turned to see Pete being pushed out of the side of the truck. He jumped onto the concrete on his back and didn't move. I started running towards him as Myka got out of the truck and followed me and Thorn got out and went to the back to check on the sculpture. As soon as Thorn got to the back, the truck took off. I left Myka to deal with Pete as I turned on my heels and raced after the truck. I stretched my legs out as far as possible, trying to gather up as much ground as I could and when my nose was barely touching the back bumper, the truck made a sharp turn and I tripped over my own paws and lost my speed. I snorted and shook my head before racing back to Pete, shifting when I got to his feet.

"Pete?" I whispered to him, trying to get him to open his eyes. "Pete? Baby? Come on, Pete, wake up." My fingers ran through his thick, black hair as I tried to coax him to wake up." Myka pulled out her phone and called 911.

"I need an ambulance right away." She said.

"Pete!"

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I sat on the edge of Pete's hospital bed, playing with his hair. It was the worst feeling, sitting there, watching Pete sleep in pain. It hurt. Myka was on the other side of the bed, reading a magazine. Pete inhaled sharply and his eyes shot open, looking around the room in confusion. I smiled down at him, hope fluttering in my stomach, when his eyes fell on me.

"Hey, lover." I whispered to him. He sighed and closed his eyes in pain as Myka stood up from her seat and walked over to the bedside.

"How are you feeling?" Myka asked him and he grunted before responding.

"Sore-everywhere." He answered. "Need cookies?" I laughed and rubbed my thumb gently across his right temple.

"You've been out for a while." I said. "Remember anything?"

"I had my molecules rearranged and got shoved out the side of a moving truck."

"That about sums it up." Myka said.

"Not surprisingly, it gives you quite a headache."

"You know, I, um-I told Artie what you said about the buckskin coat before you passed out, and the creation myth, doing his thing."

"Yeah, I don't get it. I mean, this guy could be robbing Fort Knox. Why the sculptures?"

"I guess that's our little puzzle, isn't it?" Pete lifted his head and looked out the door window. Myka and I looked out the window to see Thistle standing outside, talking on the phone. Pete's head fell back onto the pillow.

"Mmmm." He chuckled. "The pretty boy." He sang some sexy music before chuckling again. "What is he doing here?"

"Thistle got you a free multi point inspection, made sure all your parts are where they belong."

"Ah, Thistle did."

"Yes, Thistle did. He, um, owns the hospital, or builds it, or something."

"Well, that's handy." Myka cleared her throat.

"He asked me to dinner."

"It's three AM."

"Well, in the cafeteria."

"Big spender."

"I said no."

"Eh, you should go."

"No, I should stay here-with you."

"Nah."

"I mean, Pete-"

"Myka!"

"Pete!"

"This guy knows what's going on. I'd go for it."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOO

I was laying next to Pete in his hospital bed, my head on the pillow next to his head, careful not to touch, not wanting to cause him anymore pain. I was drifting off to sleep only to be awaken by the buzzing sound of the Farnsworth in Pete's jacket that was hangingi up by the door. I climbed out of the bed and went over to answer the Farnsworth.

"Lily." Artie greeted me. "Ah, listen, Thistle Heart, I think that that guys needs a second look."

"Yeah, Myka's taking a look at him now, over dry turkey, mushy vegatables, and tapioca pudding." Pete called from the bed.

"Ok, Pete's still in the hospital?"

"Well, he did get pushed out of the side of a steel truck." I defended him.

"I'm recuperating." Pete said.

"Yeah, well, recuperate later, because while Myka's keeping Heart busy, I'm going to need you to toss his apartment."

"Why steal his stuff from himself?" I asked. "Is Heart our guy?" Artie chuckled.

"Well, tell me what you find out, and I will let you know." Artie closed the Farnsworth. I put the Farnsworth back into Pete's jacket and turned to him.

"I can go alone."

"Naw, I'll go with you. Someone's gotta watch your back." Pete said.

"I can take care of myself."

"I know you can, Lilypad. But it makes me feel better if I go with you."

"Fine."

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"Do you know who was in business with Longbottom years ago?" Artie asked Pete and I as we climbed the steps of Thistle's penthouse.

"The other guy who wanted the sculpture?" Pete guessed.

"That's right, Thistle Heart's father. And both those guys tried to push-really hard at that time to sell them, all four of the sculptures." Pete let out an exasperated sigh.

"Yeah, what do they do?" I asked.

"I don't know. I guess something happen when you put all four sculptures together. My best guess? Something-"

"Bad." Pete finished for him.

"Bad, bad. You find anything at Heart's yet?"

"No." I answered. "This place seems to be clean, Artie." But I spoke to soon. Pete stopped and turned to look at a wooden structure on a shelf built into a wall. "Pete?"

"Vibe." He informed me.

"We'll call you back." I closed the Farnsworth before Artie could protest. Pete walked up to the wooden structure and gave it a tiny turn and the wall pushed back and opened like a door. "You gotta be kidding me. What a hack." The lights turned on and we walked down four steps to see native american pictures and models and objects lying all around the secret room. "Bingo mania." And Pete pulled out his phone to call Myka.

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"Yeah, I don't-" Pete's voice trailed off as he shuffled through some notes on the desk, waiting for Myka and Thistle to show up. I stood beside him, examining pictures of ancient native american objects. "Cissy was married to a Lenape woman. And the sculptures are some kind of a key to his sacred undergound cave."

"To a scared what?" Artie questioned him.

"A cave." I repeated. "It says that it contains four offerings to the spirits of creation. Somehow he hid the directions to the cave in the sculptures."

"So those four sculptures, you think they're a map? As you put the four sculptures together, maybe they-They tell you where this cave is."

"Yeah, but how, Artie?" Pete asked with a whine. "I mean, we're missing something."

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"The truth is in the dawn." Pete muttered. "The truth is in the dawn. Look, I-I don't know what that means, but it's written all over Cissy's notes."

"What?" Artie questioned him. "What? What's written?"

"Ah, dawn." Pete held the Farnsworth over the papers on the desk, showing Artie Cissy's notes. "It's-I mean, I don't kow. Ah, ah, creation maybe. Tony Orlando and-"

"Creation-or destruction."

"Yeah." Pete rubbed his face in frustration and sighed. "Look, Artie, how much of this stuff do we really believe?"

"We're looking for an artifact, Pete, and we work in a warehouse full of artifacts." I said. "How much of this stuff do we _not _believe?"

"We believe enough that if he's looking for this cave, it's better that we find it first." Artie said.

"I would agree with that." A voice sounded outside the room. Pete and I looked up from the desk to see Thistle walk in with Myka behind him.

"Lucy, you got some splaining to do." Pete said in a Spanish accent.

"So, where's the coat?" Myka questioned us.

"Nathan Longbottom beat me to it, the same way he's been trying to find the cave." Thistle explained.

"What cave?"

"Underground, scared, check it out." I said, handing Myka Cissy's notes.

"We have to stop him." Thistle said. "Like you said, there are some things that should not be out in the world."

"Yeah, but what about that big guy that works for the two of them?" Pete asked.

"Thorn is Lenape. He wants to save the cave, too. He's been my eyes at Longbottom's digs. He hasn't checked in either. I think something's happened."

"Ok, so we have to find this cave before Longbottom does." Myka said.

"Well, if he's got all four sculptures he could there now."

"We've got all of Cissy's notes right here." Pete said, pointing to the scattered paper on the desk.

"No, that-that hasn't helped me solve it yet."

"True, Mr. Heart, but-you're not me." Artie said through the Farnsworth. "And right now, we need to find the location of that cave before Longbottom does."

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"So, Cissy stopped taking notes when he got close finding the cave." Myka stated.

"Yeah." Artie confirmed.

"It's like he realized that the stories were true and stopped writing anything down." Pete added.

"Well, you know, I think it may be enough, because I found all these old maps-"

"Knock knock." Claudia's voice sounded on the other end of the Farnsworth, in Artie's office.

"And I-" Artie jumped at the sound of Claudia's voice. "I wish you wouldn't do that. God! Not funny. Ah, hey. Ha-ha-hang on. Just-"

"I just came by to grab my tools, and then I'm hitting the proverbial road."

"This is not right."

"I'm thinking Vegas."

"Not-There's gotta be a Lenape settlement here somewhere, and it's gotta be somewhere safe."

"Yeah, and they'd look for a place with special properties." Thistle said.

"It's gotta be-It's gotta be somewhere safe, so-No, this is not-What, what? Hey, hey."

"Dude, have you considered matching these against magnectic ley lines?" Claudia asked him.

"No, you don't-" Artie's voice trailed off as he pondered Claudia's suggestion.

"One runs right along the East edge of the island." It was quiet for a moment as Artie and Claudia talked quietly, looking at a map.

"Guys, I think I got it. I've got it." Artie laughed with joy. "It is, uh, lower East side, corlears hook. That is, um-That is just south of, ah the Williamsburg Bridge. And, ah, it's right near the water. It's gotta be away from the subway lines. And Claudia pointed out that-" Artie looked over his shoulder to look at Claudia but stopped when he saw that she pulled a Mrs. Frederic move. "Uh."

"Longbottom's building there." Thistle said. "He's been digging everywhere that Cissy focused, using new construction to cover his hunt."

"Then he's close to finding it." I said. "Ok, Artie, we're heading out."

"Yeah, ok." Artie answered. "Feel free to hurry."

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By the time we arrived at the construction site, the ground was rumbling and construction workers were running away from a blast site. I was about ten yards in front of Pete, Myka and Thistle as I propelled myself down the stairs and down the hole that was just recently blasted. I saw an opening in the cave wall when the others started climbing down. Pete pushed past me and headed in first, gun in his hands. I followed behind him, Myka behind me with the tesla and Thistle behind her. We walked into a blazing heated cave to see Nathan Longbottom with a native american cloak on and a rock for a left hand and an arrow in the other hand. Rocks above us crumbled, threatening to collaspe on top of us.

"You kinda got your hands full, don't ya?" Pete questioned him. I froze in my tracks when I saw fire in the back of the cave. Memories of being tortured began to come back to me but I immediately brushed it off and focused on my job, on Nathan.

"Don't, Nate." Thistle said. "You don't know what you're dealing with."

"You're too late, Thistle." Nathan said. "This is what I was meant do."

"Nut bag." Pete said.

"Ok, Longbottom, drop the arrow." Myka ordered. Nathan pointed the tip of the arrow at us and a blast of wind shot at us, sending us back into the wall of the cave.

"Put it back, Nate." Thistle said. "It's not for us." I saw from the corner of my eye that Nathan back handed Thistle, knocking him to the ground.

"Not for you, Thistle." Nathan corrected him. "You're weak. So was your father." Nathan put the arrow down and the wind subsided. We struggled to our feet, the wind causing us to lose a lot of our energy.

"Listen, Nate. You don't know what you're doing."

"The fourth element completes the transformation, then nothing can stop me. How fitting that this place should be your tomb."

"No, no, no." Pete pointed to himself, then to the arrow, then at Nathan. "It's not meant for you." He got up and followed the cave wall and grabbed the arrow that Nathan set down and started heading for Nathan as his attention was focused on Thistle.

"They're meant for the man who's strong enough to use them." A red rock glowed in front of Nathan as he reached out and grabbed it, his hand erupting in flames. I tried to back up in shock, worried that the flames would get me, but the wall was blocking my path. Pete came up behind Nathan and stabbed him in the back with the arrow causing Nathan's entire body to go up in flames, making inferno rumble in the cave. Pete came running back to me and covered my body with his, protecting me from the heat and flames of Nathan as he dissapated into dust. The rumbling deceased and the ground came to a stop. I immediately ran out of the cave and jumped into the first body of water I saw and started rolling around in it. I rolled onto my back and wriggled from side to side, not caring if I was getting my white fur dirty with mud or not. I was just happy I was away from the heat and I was cooling the torturing memories down.

"Uh, Pete, what is Lily doing?" I heard Myka ask Pete as I rubbed my face in the water.

"Uh, yeah, she, uh, she's had some bad experiences with fire." Pete answered.

"What happened?"

"That's not for me to tell." Damn straight.


End file.
